
Class. B y-^h S 

Book 



L A^W S 

RELATING TO ^ tj Q 

. T7T' 

RELIGIOUS CORPORATIONS. 



A COMPILATION OF THE STATUTES OF THE SEVERAL STATES IN THE 

UNITED STATES IN IlELATION TO THE INCORPORATION 

AND MAINTENANCE OF RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES. 

AND TO THE DISTURBANCE OF 

RELIGIOUS MEETINGS. 



BY REV. SANDFORD HUNT, D.D., 

Author of '' Hand-book for Trustees." 



WITH AN ADDRESS ON LAWS AFFECTING RELIGIOUS CORPORATIONS 
IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

BY HON. E. L. FANCHER, LL.D. 





.■--\.. 


''%> 




NELSON & PHILLIPS. 




CLNCTNNATI : 


HITCHCOCK & WALDEN. 




1876. 



(lo^^ ^ 



,W1 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S76, by 

NELSON & PHILLIPS, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 



BY TRAIN 3 -ER 
ftoti moo 



THE LAW 



OF 



RELIGIOUS CORPORATIONS IN NEW YORK.' 



BY E. L. FANCHER, LL.D. 



'T^HE Constitution of the State of New York pro- 
■^ vides that the free exercise and enjoyment of 
religious profession and worship, without discrimina- 
tion or preference, shall forever be allowed in this 
State to all mankind ; and no person shall be ren- 
dered incompetent to be a witness on account of his 
opinions on matters of religious belief. But the liber- 
ty of conscience thereby secured shall not be so con- 
strued as to excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify 
practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of this 
State. A similar provision is contained in the 
statute of the State known as the Bill of Rights. It 
will thus be apparent that no church can claim ex- 
clusive privilege or establishment in New York. 
The law does not take cognizance of any church in 
respect of its doctrinal peculiarity, nor does its de- 
nominational character affect its civil rights. The 
courts may, however, inquire into those matters where 
questions concerning property call for it. 

The statutes which regulate the organization and 

* Substance of a Lecture delivered before the New York District 
Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, March 21, 1876. 



iv Religious Corporations in New York, 

incorporation of religious societies, and the manage- 
ment of their affairs, have reference alone to their 
temporal concerns. The General Act for the incor- 
poration of such societies, which was passed in 1813, 
has been many times since amended, but the promi- 
nent features of the original statute are still very 
perceptible. Although it declares that the trustees 
shall be a body corporate, a view of the entire act, 
and the current of authority, as well as the popular 
opinion, sustains the position that the congregation 
or society, and not the trustees, are incorporated. 
The relation which the trustees bear to the corpora- 
tion is not that of private trustees to the cestuis que 
trust, but that of directors to a civil corporation. 
They are the managing officers of the corporation, 
invested, as to its temporal affairs, with such particu- 
lar powers as are specified in the statute, and, also, 
within the sphere of their appropriate duties, with 
such discretionary powers as may properly be exer- 
cised by officers of a civil corporation. Therefore, 
whatever property is acquired is vested in the corpo- 
ration aggregate, and not in the trustees. Whatever 
possession the trustees have of the property, is the 
possession of the body corporate. Although they 
are styled trustees, they do not hold the property in 
trust. Their name is simply the title of their office, 
and their position is the same as if they had been 
called directors or managers. Their right to interfere 
with the property is only an authority, and not an 
interest, or an estate. Hence, any legal proceedings 
affecting the property should be conducted in the 
name of the corporation, and not of the trustees ; and 



Religions Corporations in New York. v 

any transfers or conveyances, when sanctioned by 
the court, should be also in the name of the corpo- 
ration. 

There is a common mistake of making conveyances 
to the trustees of the religious corporation ; but the 
word " trustees " should never be used in a convey- 
ance. The corporate title of the body corporate 
should be correctly stated, just as when the convey- 
ance is to an individual his name should be correctly 
stated. Incorporated religious societies are not re- 
garded as ecclesiastical corporations in the sense of 
the English law, but as civil corporations, governed 
by the principles of the common and statute law. 
It was incident at common law to every corporation 
to have capacity to purchase and alien lands and 
chattels. Unless restricted by their charters, or by 
statute, they are endowed with that capacity. But 
the common-law right of disposition of lands was, as 
to religious corporations, taken away in England in 
the time of Elizabeth, and it has never existed in 
this State since the statute of 1813. The powers 
granted to trustees by that act are limited ; so that 
no sale of real estate can be made without the order 
of the chancellor — now of the Supreme Court. In 
such case, too, when a sale is permitted, the court 
must direct as to the disposition of the proceeds of 
sale. The proceeding for a sale should be founded 
on the vote of the electors, as well as on the action of 
the trustees. As a mortgage is a conveyance subject 
to the condition that the debt be paid at a certain 
day, it is the general opinion that trustees have no 
right to mortgage the premises of a religious corpo- 



vi Religious Corporations in New York. 

ration without an order of the court permitting it to 
be done. It has, however, in one case been decided 
otherwise, (27 Barb., 52,) and in another case a mort- 
gage to secure part consideration of premises was 
upheld without such an order. (18 Barb., 35.) 

There is a marked and essential difference between 
other civil corporations and those incorporated under 
the statute for the formation of religious societies. The 
former are subject to the visitorial powers of courts 
of equity ; they may have their affairs regulated, im- 
proper officers ousted, and their members reinstated. 
With the latter the courts have no concern, except 
in the few particulars specified by a late statute. If 
there should be a failure to elect trustees, the courts 
can afford no relief; the remedy must be sought in 
the statute. The powers granted to trustees by the 
act of 18 1 3, taken in connection with the statute 
which excepts religious corporations from the vis- 
itorial interference of courts of equity, evince the 
intent of the Legislature as to the temporal concerns 
of such a corporation, so that if a band of infidels 
should have become members of a religious congre- 
gation, and as electors for trustees should have elect- 
ed some of their number to the board, the courts could 
not, prior to the late act of 1875, interfere. The only 
corrective was with the congregation at their stated 
election for trustees. The power was in their own 
hands, so far as the law stood prior to March 29, 
1875. The courts hitherto, before the law of 1875, 
had held that religious corporations, formed under the 
third section of the Act of 18 13, had no denomina- 
tional character, and that none can be engrafted on 



Religious Corporations in New York, vii 

them. Ecclesiastical connection, doctrines, rites, or 
modes of government of the spiritual body, did not 
affect the legal character of the corporation. The 
title of the trustees to office, and the control of the 
property prior to the late Act of March 29, 1875, was 
not impaired by any aberration in doctrine or church 
government, on the part of the congregation which 
elected the trustees. 

There are available checks against the improper 
conduct of electors. One is the control which the 
trustees have of the temporaUties, and their right to 
make any proper regulations as to the renting of 
pews, or the occupancy of seats in church edifices, so 
as to exclude, if they see fit, obnoxious and im- 
proper attendants. Another is the right to appoint 
a clerk, who shall be required to keep a roll of the 
voters belonging to the congregation, and, where 
such a record is kept, to make it the registry by 
which the qualification of the electors may be deter- 
mined. This, in fact, is seldom done, and it com- 
mends the general management of trustees and the 
general conduct of rehgious congregations, that the 
guard of a registry of voters has not been found 
necessary. 

In one of the statutes of England, in the reign of 
Henry VIIL, it was provided : " Causes spiritual 
must be judged by judges of the spirituality, and 
causes temporal by temporal judges." We may ap- 
ply that principle to the law of New York. Over 
the church, as such, the legal tribunals do not pro- 
fess any jurisdiction, except to protect civil rights 
and preserve the public peace. Questions relating 



viii Religious Corporations in New York. 

to the faith and practice of the church, belong to the 
church judicatories, and the doctrines, government, 
and worship of the church, are to be regulated ac- 
cording to its own peculiar rules and discipline. Our 
laws make a plain distinction between ecclesiastical 
procedure, and the regulation of temporalities. They 
are in harmony with the principles of our Federal 
Constitution, which provides that "no religious test 
shall ever be required as a qualification to any 
office or public trust, and that Congress shall make 
no law respecting an establishment of religion, or 
prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Freedom to 
worship God, according to the dictates of conscience, 
and liberty of opinion in matters of religious faith, 
are among the choicest blessings of a free people. 

Under the laws of England the people are divisible 
into two classes, the clergy and the laity. There the 
clergy are allowed numerous privileges by the munic- 
ipal laws. They have, however, some disabilities, 
and are divided into ranks and degrees. But in the 
United States we have no holy orders, nor any ec- 
clesiastical officers, known as such to the civil law. 
Nor is any one in this country compelled to make 
any contribution for the support of religion. All 
contributions for that purpose are voluntary. Yet, 
contracts made to support religion or pious endow- 
ments, stand upon the same foundation as contracts 
for other purposes, and will be enforced by the mu- 
nicipal law, when properly made upon sufficient con- 
sideration. 

A religious society may be defined to be a volun- 
tary association of individuals for the advancement 



Religious Corporations in New York. ix 

of religion. Although a church, as an ecclesiastical 
body, is always connected with a religious corpora- 
tion, yet the members of the church have no other or 
greater rights than others of the congregation, ex- 
cept in a few instances where special acts have made 
a distinction. One of such exceptions was created 
by a law of 1875 in respect to Brooklyn. In deter- 
mining the powers and functions of a religious cor- 
poration in the State of New York, reference must 
be had to the statute under which it is incorporated. 
Whatever authority the corporation possesses is de- 
rived from the statute, and by its provisions must the 
power be tested. The trustees alone can bind the 
corporation, and, in order to execute that power, they 
must convene as a board, at which a majority must 
be present. When convened, a majority of the quo- 
rum present is competent to make valid their action. 
The separate action of the trustees individually, al- 
though a majority in number should agree upon it, 
would not legally be the act of the constituted 
body clothed with the corporate powers. The 
property of the corporation cannot be distributed by 
the trustees among the members, nor can the mem- 
bers themselves, or the court, sanction such a distri- 
bution. Church edifices and chapels are sometimes 
let, or permitted to be used, for purposes other than 
those for which they were erected. Such casual 
or occasional use is not objectionable, provided it 
does not interfere with the rights or convenience of 
the congregation. It could not be carried to such 
an extent as to amount to a perversion of the legiti- . 
mate ends for which the property is held. It is now 



X Religious Corporations in New York, 

enacted that bequests and devises of real and per- 
sonal estate, may be made to a religious corporation, 
the net annual income of which shall not exceed 
twelve thousand dollars, subject, however, to the act 
of i860 relating to wills, which limits such bequests 
and devises to one half of the estate of the donor, 
where there survives a husband, wife, child, or parent. 

Premises exclusively used for church purposes are 
exempt from taxation. Parsonages are not thus 
exempt. 

There are special statutes for the incorporation 
of societies to establish free churches, for the in- 
corporation of Protestant Episcopal Churches, Re- 
formed Presbyterian Churches, Roman Catholic 
Churches, and some others. Generally, however, 
Methodist Episcopal Churches, and those of the 
Baptist, Presbyterian, Congregational, and some 
other denominations, are incorporated under the third 
section of the Act of 18 13. Persons entitled to vote 
for trustees, in such a religious congregation, are 
males and females of full age, who shall have been 
stated attendants on divine worship in the congrega- 
tion at least one year before such election, "and shall 
have contributed to the support of the church, congre- 
gation, or society, according to the usages and customs 
thereof." (Chapter 597, Laws of 1875.) If the socie- 
ty neglect or omit at their stated annual election to 
choose any one of the three classes of trustees, as 
mentioned in the sixth section of the Act of 18 13, 
they may proceed to an election on a new notice. 
. (Chapter 354, Laws of 1875.) 

On the 29th March, 1875, a most important act 



Religious Corporations in New York. xi 

relative to religious societies was passed by the 
Legislature of New York. (Chapter 79, Laws of 
1875.) In a sense it grew out of the proceedings of 
the Methodist Convention held at Syracuse some 
years ago. The Convention appointed a committee 
of lawyers to prepare and present to the Legislature 
a proper bill. The committee performed that duty, 
and the bill passed one branch of the Legislature, 
but failed in the other, perhaps for want of time. 
Last winter Rev. Dr. Hunt, of Lockport,* a presiding 
elder, took up the matter, visited New York and 
Albany, made amendments to the bill, and success- 
fully influenced its passage, so that it is now a law. 
It amends the Act of 18 13 in important particulars. 

Sec. I provides that trustees shall hold their offices 
during the term for which they were elected, and un- 
til their successors are chosen. 

Now, a failure to elect any of the classes of trust- 
ees will not leave the corporation without a legal 
board to transact its affairs. 

Sec. 2 provides that when a trustee ceases to be a 
member of the church, by removal or otherwise, or 
ceases to statedly attend upon and support its serv- 
ices, he shall, for such cause, cease to be a trustee ; his 
place shall be declared vacant, and the congregation 
shall proceed to fill the vacancy. 

The importance of this provision to meet emergen- 
cies that arise is quite apparent. 

Sec. 3 provides, what another act of the same ses- 
sion provides, that bequests and devises may be 
made to a religious corporation, the net annual in- 

* Now of Buffalo. N. Y. 



xii Religious Corporations in Nezv York, 

come of which shall not exceed ^12,000; subject to 
the limitation of the Act concerning wills ; that is, 
chap. 360, Laws of i860. 

Sec. 4 provides that the trustees shall administer 
the temporalities, and hold and apply the property 
and revenues, for the benefit of the corporation, ac- 
cording to the discipline, rules, and usages of the 
denomination to which the church meanders of the 
corporation belong ; and it shall not be lawful to di- 
vert the property to any other purpose ; except to- 
ward the support of institutions connected with such 
church or religious society. 

Prior to this act it had several times been held by 
the courts, that the congregation and trustees could 
change their faith and denomination, and totally dis- 
regard the ecclesiastical relations and ordinances of 
the denomination, to which before they were attached. 

Sec. 5 allows religious corporations to receive and 
apply income or rents from pews, in addition to the 
annual income allowed by law. 

Prior to this provision, most of the pewed churches 
in cities were obliged to pursue a practice contrary 
to law. 

Sec. 6 extends the jurisdiction of courts of equity 
over religious corporations, so far as may be neces- 
sary to enforce the provisions of that act. 

Without this provision such courts would have no 
power, as there is a general statute which excepts re- 
ligious corporations from their jurisdiction. 

Sec. 7 provides that no religious corporation shall 
be dissolved for want of the inventory of its real and 
personal estate, and the account of the annual income 



Religious Corporations in New York. xiii 

thereof, which is required by law to be exhibited 
once in three years, between January and April, to a 
justice of the Supreme Court ; provided such ac- 
count or inventory be exhibited within three years 
from the passage of the Act. It was passed, as al- 
ready stated, March 29, 1875. 

Since the Act thus referred to, it is considered that 
the property of religious corporations within the 
State of New York is well secured by proper pro- 
visions of law. Perhaps no further local legislation 
is necessary for the management of the temporalities 
under the care of trustees of religious societies in 
that State. Christian churches or denominations do 
not seek from the State any thing more than the pro- 
tection of their civil rights. They do not ask that 
the secular power shall enforce any doctrine, or enact 
statutes to make valid any creed. It is right to obey 
God rather than man ; and, therefore, religious be- 
lief is a matter for the conscience, beyond the reach 
of human laws. The great Head of the church re- 
fused to wear an earthly crown, and said, " My king- 
dom is not of this world.'* He provided for no 
statesmen to establish his church ; nor for any sol- 
diers to propagate its faith. The sublime words in 
which he commissioned his apostles to preach the 
Gospel, and to disciple all nations, show that his 
dominion was not to be civil or national, but spiritual 
and universal. Yet he plainly asserted the doctrine 
that civil government is ordained of God. 

While no particular form of government is pre- 
scribed, the law of the New Testament asserts the 
binding force of civil authority. There is an inspired 



XIV Religious Corporations in New York, 

passage in Paul's Epistle to the Romans, which, in 
the translation of Dean Alford, reads as follows : 
"Let every soul submit himself to the authorities 
that are above him ; for there is no authority except 
from God : those that be, have been ordained by 
God. So that he which setteth himself against the 
authority, resisteth the ordinance of God ; and they 
that resist shall receive to themselves condemnation. 
For rulers are not a terror to the good, but to the 
evil. Dost thou desire not to be afraid of the au- 
thority.'^ Do that which is good, and thou shalt 
have praise from the same ; for he is God's minister 
unto thee for good. But if thou do that which is 
evil, be afraid ; for he weareth not the sword in vain : 
for he is God's minister, an avenger for wrath unto 
him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs sub- 
mit yourselves, not only because of the wrath, but 
also for your conscience' sake. For this cause ye 
also pay tribute ; for they are ministers of God, at- 
tending continually to this very thing. Render to 
all their dues : tribute to whom tribute is due ; cus- 
tom, to whom custom ; fear to whom fear ; honor to 
whom honor." 

While this expressive passage does not define the 
sphere of the civil authority, there are other portions 
of the sacred record which show that it is limited to 
the temporal concerns of man, and has no right to 
invade the sacred realm of his spiritual convictions 
or duties. Man's allegiance to a spiritual kingdom 
is supreme ; and, subservient to that higher law, he 
owes allegiance, also, to human laws. His motto 
should ever be : ** Render, therefore, to Cesar the 



Religious Corporations in New York. xv 

things that are Cesar's, and to God the things that 
are God's." 

It should not be inferred because the constitution 
of the United States secures " the free exercise and 
enjoyment of religious profession and worship," 
that therefore acts of irreligion or practices incon- 
sistent with public peace or morality are tolerated 
by the law. On the contrary, it is an offense at 
common law, to deny the being or providence of God. 
Contumelious reproaches of Jesus Christ have been 
held to be blasphemy. Profane scoffing at the Holy 
Scripture, or exposing it to contempt and ridicule, is 
a like crime at the common law. {King v. Woolstony 
Str.y 834 ; W, Blackstones Ref., 398 ; i Vejtt,, 293 ; 
3 Keb,y 607, 621 ; 8 y. R., 292.) The Court of King s 
Bench declared that they would not suffer it to be 
debated, whether to write against Christianity in 
general was not an offense, punishable in the tempo- 
ral courts at common law. 

Blasphemy, according to the most precise defini- 
tion, consists in reviling God or religion ; and it has 
been held that the utterance of malicious and scan- 
dalous words concerning the Saviour was blasphemy, 
because it was reviling Christianity through its di- 
vine author. {People v. Ruggles, 8 yohns. Rep., 294.) 
The Court of King's Bench in Rex v. Woolston, said 
that whatever strikes at the root of Christianity tends 
manifestly to the dissolution of civil government. 
In Rex V. Williams^ tried in July, 1797, before Lord 
Kenyon, for the publication of " Paine's Age of Rea- 
son," the same doctrine was asserted. Profane ridi- 
cule of Christ, or of the Holy Scriptures, is an offense 



xvi Religious Corporations in New York. 

punishable at common law, whether uttered by words 
or writings. (4 Black, Com., 59.) It is an offense be- 
cause it tends to corrupt good morals, and to destroy 
good order ; and is, therefore, treated as a crime af- 
fecting the essential interests of civil society. Such 
offenses, at common law, are punishable under the 
constitution and laws of the State of New York. 
{People V. RtiggleSy 8 yohn, R., 290.) 

Lord Bacon said, " Profane scoffing doth, by httle 
and little, deface the reverence for religion,'' vol. ii, 
291, Bacoiis Works. Chancellor Kent said, (8 J. R., 
p. 295 :) " No government among any of the polished 
nations of antiquity, and none of the institutions of 
modern Europe, (a single and monitory case except- 
ed,) ever hazarded such a bold experiment upon the 
solidity of the public morals, as to permit with impu- 
nity, and under the sanction of their tribunal, the 
general religion of the community to be openly in- 
sulted and defamed. The very idea of jurisprudence, 
with the ancient lawgivers and philosophers, em- 
braced the reHgion of the country, yurisprudentia 
est divinarum atqice humanarum rerum notitia. — Cic, 
de Legibus, b. 2. The free, equal, and undisturbed 
enjoyment of rehgious opinion, whatever it may be, 
and free and decent discussions of any religious sub- 
ject, are granted and secured ; but to revile with 
malicious and blasphemous contempt the religion 
professed by almost the whole community, is an 
abuse of that right. Nor are we bound by any ex- 
pressions in the constitution, as some have strangely 
supposed, either not to punish at all, or to punish in- 
discriminately the like attacks upon the religion of 



Religious Corporations in New York, xvii 

Mohammed or of the Grand Lama ; and for this plain 
reason, we are a Christian people, and the morality 
of the country is deeply ingrafted upon Christianity, 
and not upon the doctrines or worship of those im- 
postors. . . . Though the constitution has discarded 
religious establishments, it does not forbid judi- 
cial cognizance of those offenses against religion 
and morality which have no reference to any such 
establishment, or to any particular form of govern- 
ment, but are punishable because they strike at the 
root of moral obligation, and weaken the security of 
the social ties." The constitution "never meant to 
withdraw religion in general, and with it the best 
sanctions of moral and social obligation, from all con- 
sideration and notice of the law.'* " To construe it 
as breaking down the common law barriers against 
licentious, wanton, and impious attacks upon Chris- 
tianity itself, would be an enormous perversion of its 
meaning." " Christianity in its enlarged sense as a 
religion, revealed and taught in the Bible, is not un- 
known to our law." Vide the R. S. concerning the 
keeping of the Sabbath. Concerning oaths, and 
making of contracts on Sunday, the Supreme Court 
of the United States held, in Vidal v. Girard's 
Ex., 2 U. S, How., R.y 198, that the Christian religion 
was a part of the common law adopted in Pennsyl- 
vania, in the constitution of which State is a provis- 
ion similar to that in the constitution of New York. 
It is so in New York, 8 yokn. Rep., 292 : (Debates 
in Convention of N. Y., p. 374.) A man who spoke 
contumelious and disrespectful words of Christ was 
tried, convicted, fined, and imprisoned ; and the Su- 



xviii Religious Corporations in New York. 

preme Court of New York decided that the words 
were blasphemous, at common law, and that the ac- 
cused was properly convicted and sentenced. It has 
also been held that while individual consciences may 
not be constrained, yet men of every opinion and 
creed may be restrained from acts which interfere 
with Christian worship, or which tend to revile re- 
ligion or bring it into contempt. When any belief 
tends to acts which interfere with the rights of those 
who represent the religion of the country, their acts 
may be restrained by legislation. (See 21 Howard's 
Prac. Rep,, 157.) 

The sparks of ancient learning which survived the 
long winter of the dark ages have not kindled the 
light of our day. The stupendous march of our civili- 
zation is due to the establishment and maintenance 
of Christianity. Revelation and reason go hand in 
hand, and give energy and effect to our laws. Our con- 
stitutional freedom is pervaded with the living prin- 
ciples of justice and truth, whose foundations are the 
Holy Scriptures. The republics of Greece, Rome, 
and Venice, had what were called free constitutions 
before ours were framed. Republican France adopted 
one that was a model of human sagacity. But the 
sublime principles of Christianity were hidden below 
the horizon of those unhappy republics, and there 
was found no charm in infidel political science to 
save them. God is the righteous ruler of nations. 
He has given the kingdoms of this world to his Son. 
He occupies the supreme throne over all ; not as 
a deity of reason or of pantheism ; nor yet as the 
theos or detts of speculative philosophy, but as the 



Religious Corporatiojts in New York, xix 

God of revelation, as he is made known in the Holy 
Scriptures, which are the chart of our liberties. We 
are not left to speculative theories, or to a disputable 
hypothesis in this matter. Whenever we turn to the 
examination of historical facts, we find that in every 
place where Christianity has prevailed, there the en- 
lightenment and moral elevation of mankind have fol- 
lowed. It is also seen that just in proportion to the ab- 
sence or the corruption of Christian truth, have there 
been darkness, error, and crime. The most important 
part of the history of European civilization is the 
history of Christianity ; and identified with the stu- 
pendous progress of the people of the United States, 
is the history of their Christian culture and faith in 
Christ. The world is not abandoned to chance or 
fate. It is under a scheme of moral government, 
where evil men and wrong principles are overruled by 
an Almighty power. All laws, therefore, which are 
framed for the guidance of human society, should be 
subordinate to the higher system of Heaven ; which, 
in wonderful wisdom and love, has not only devised 
the redemption and restoration of humanity, but has 
revealed those eternal principles of morality that are 
endued with living power for the welfare of men. 

In the Convention of 1821 for forming the Consti- 
tution of New York, it was conceded, in discussing 
the case of the People v. Ruggles^ that the Christian 
religion was the law of the land, in the sense that it 
was preferred over all other religions, and was en- 
titled to the recognition and protection of the tempo- 
ral courts by the common law of the State. The 
decision of that case was vindicated as a just exposi- 



XX Religious Corporations in New York, 

tion of the constitutional recognition, and the relation 
of the Christian religion to the State. A practical 
construction is thus put upon the " toleration '' clause 
of the Constitution of 1821, and which was again 
adopted in the Constitution of 1846. It limits its 
effect to a prohibition of a church establishment by 
the State, and of all "discrimination or preference" 
among the several sects and denominations in the 
" free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession 
and worship." But it does not prohibit the Legisla- 
ture or the courts from regarding the Christian re- 
ligion as the religion of the people, as distinguished 
from the false religions of the world. It is not dis- 
putable that Christianity was a part of the common 
law of England. {Lindenmtiller y. People y 21 How., 
Pr. Rep., 158.) 

By Sec. 17, Art. i, Const, of 1846, it is provided: 
" Such parts of the common law, and of the acts of 
the Legislature of the Colony of New York as to- 
gether did form the law of the said Colony on the 
19th of April, 1775 ; and the resolutions of the 
Congress of the said Colony, and of the Convention 
of the State of New York, in force on the 20th day 
of April, 1777, which have not expired, or been re- 
pealed or altered, and such acts of the Legislature of 
this State as are now in force, shall be, and continue 
the law of this State, subject to such alterations as 
the Legislature shall make concerning the same." 
Thus the recognition of Christianity as a part of the 
common law, is incorporated into the law of New 
York. Christianity is not the legal religion of the 
State, but it is the recognized rehgion of the people ; 



Religious Corporatiofis in New York. xxi 

and, as such, it is recognized and protected. Laws 
are accordingly passed prohibiting the violation of 
the Christian Sabbath by secular employments or 
the making of civil contracts. The common faith of 
the community is also recognized by conventions to 
form or amend the Constitution, and by the Legisla- 
tures, in opening their daily sessions with prayer. 
The governor cannot return bills to the Legislature 
on the Christian Sabbath. The courts cannot sit on 
that day, except to receive a verdict or to discharge 
a jury. The founders of our government and the 
framers of our constitutions have recognized the 
truth that the Christian religion is intimately con- 
nected with good government, and is the only sure 
basis of sound morals. The stability of government, 
the welfare of society, and the interest of the citizen, 
are involved in our perpetuation of the Sabbath as 
one of the institutions of Christianity, and in proper 
respect for the Christian religion. The peace and 
good order of society are thereby promoted, and 
increased securities of life and property are thereby 
afforded. It would be repugnant to every proper 
idea of a civilized government, to overthrow such a 
well-tried safeguard of liberty as the Christian re- 
ligion, for through the influence it exerts it is di- 
rectly conducive to civilization, and it contains the 
purest and most perfect system of ethics that ever 
has been promulgated. 

A nation is saved by the righteousness that dwells 
in it, and not by the influence of arts, or of arms. 
Its surest defense, under Providence, is the moral 
elevation of its citizens. No community, without 



xxii Religious Corporations in New York. 

morality, ever left a history except that which closes 
in darkness. Nations without God are at length 
overwhelmed in ruin. The best hopes for humanity 
are identified with the progress of Christianity, and 
the basis of national prosperity, is that individual and 
social morality which it inculcates. There are mys- 
tic shells brought from the caves of ocean, that, when 
pressed to the ear, breathe a soft and solemn sound, 
like the faint murmur of their distant native waters. 
So there are human laws which whisper of the 
deeper ordinances of nature on which they repose, 
and they point tremulously upward to a throne of 
unchanging, eternal righteousness. 

Religious tolerance is not inconsistent with a re- 
cognized religion. Our forefathers came to these 
shores not only to find a country of civil liberty, but 
they sought a land of religious freedom. The early 
history of the colonies shows that they regarded re- 
ligion as the basis of civil liberty and the foundation 
of their rights. Judge Woodward, in lO Har., 102, 
said : " The right to rear a family with a becoming 
regard to the institutions of Christianity, and without 
compelling them to witness the hourly infractions of 
one of its fundamental laws ; the right to enjoy the 
peace and good order of society, and the increased 
securities of life and property which result from a de- 
cent observance of the Sabbath ; the right of the poor 
to rest from labor without diminution of wages ; the 
right of beasts to the rest which nature calls for — are 
real, substantial rights, and as much the subject of 
governmental protection as any other right of person 
or property." Such is the law of New York. 



i:n"troduotio]^. 



THE vast and rapidly increasing amount of 
property held by religious societies in the 
United States renders a knowledge of the tenure 
by which it is secured a matter of grave impor- 
tance. Laymen who have the custody of this class 
of property should be somewhat familiar with the 
laws under whose authority they act. These laws, 
however, are to be found only in large and expen- 
sive volumes, and in many places difficult of access. 
About two years ago the compiler of this book 
collected together the laWs of the State of New 
York appertaining to this subject, and they were 
published by H. H. Otis in a small volume entitled 
*' Hand -Book for Trustees of Religious Corpora- 
tions.'* The demand for that book suggested the 
necessity for this volume. Some of the States 
have no special laws for the incorporation of relig- 
ious societies, hence their omission in this list. 
This book is not designed for lawyers or courts 
of justice. It presents, in as condensed a form as 
practicable, such statutes, now in force, as trustees 
of churches and camp-grounds may desire for the 



4 Introduction. 

security of property and maintenance of order. I 
hereby express my obligations to William Gould & 
Son, Law Publishers, at Albany, N. Y., for permission 
to copy from Tyler s " American Ecclesiastical Law '' 
the laws of Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi. That 
book is an embodiment of laws and decisions for 
those who desire a full and complete volume on this 
subject. 

While this volume was in press Hon. E. L. Fancher 
delivered an address on " The Law of Rehgious Cor- 
porations " before a District Conference in New York 
city. It is not only full of valuable practical sugges- 
tions for church officers in New York State, but 
presents, in a clear and forcible manner, solid general 
truths, which are the very foundations of civil gov- 
ernment. The pubHc at large will unite with us in 
gratitude that he yielded to our earnest solicitations 
for the copy which is herewith published. 

This book is sent out with the hope that it may be 
of service to a large class of men who, without com- 
pensation, are the custodians of property of untold 
importance to the Christian Church and the nation. 

Buffalo, N. Y., I876. S. HUNT. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I.— ALABAMA. 

Church or Religious Society may Incorporate by electing Trustees 
' — ]\Iust file Certificate — May hold Real and Personal Estate — Laws 
relating to Disturbance of Religious Meetings Page 1 1 

CHAPTER IL—CALIFORNIA. 

How Societies may Incorporate — Certificates — Powers of Trustees 
— Church Functionaries may act as Trustees — Disturbance of Camp 
and other Religious Meetings 12 

CHAPTER III.— COLORADO. 
How Organized— Powers of Trustees — Taxation 15 

CHAPTER IV.— CONNECTICUT. 

General Rights of Societies — How Formed — Membership — How 
Acquired and Terminated — Election of Members — Annual Meetings 
— Special Meetings — Officers — Vacancies — Powers of Societies — 
Location of Churches — Taxes — How laid and collected — Right of 
Voting — Pews Assessed and Sold — Offenses 17 

CHAPTER v.— DELAWARE. 

Mode of Incorporation — Trustees- — How Elected — Powers — ^Va- 
cancies — How Filled — Records — Protestant Episcopal Church — 
Deeds — Disturbing Meetings 27 

. CHAPTER VI.— DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

Religious Societies may receive and hold One Acre of Land — 
Trustees to hold Title — Certificate — Powers of Trustees — Convey- 



6 Contents. 

ances — Vacancies — Removal of Tinistees — Property reverts on 
Dissolution — Trustees hold until Successors are Elected — Private 
Schools Page 30 

CHAPTER VII.— FLORIDA. 

How to Incorporate — Powers — Property of Religious Societies — 
Disturbing Worship 34 

CHAPTER VIII.— GEORGIA. 

Methods — Change of Name — Conveyances — Vacancies — How ' 
Filled — Form of Petition and Order — Disturbing Worship 38 

CHAPTER IX.— ILLINOIS. 

Corporations may receive and hold Lands — Certificates— Powers 
of Trustees — Dissolution of Societies — Camp-Grounds — Mortgages 
— Trust Deeds — Roman Catholic Churches — Corporate Powers — Dis- 
turbance of Religious Meetings 43 

CHAPTER X.— INDIANA. 

Societies may hold Land — Notice of Election — Certificates — Ten- 
ure of Office of Trustees — How Chosen — Change of Name — Sale of 
Property— Disturbance of Religious Meetings 49 

CHAPTER XL— IOWA. 

Corporations — H ow Formed — Certificates — Powers — Elections — 
Devises and Bequests — Offenses — How Punished 55 

CHAPTER XII.— KANSAS. 

How Corporations are Formed — Acknowledged — Filed — Religious 
Societies — Disturbance of Public Worship 60 

CHAPTER XIIL— KENTUCKY. 

Grants for Charitable Uses — Not Defeated for want of Trustee — 
Churches limited to Fifty Acres — Trustees to be Appointed — Records 
— Schisms— Excommunication — Dissolution — Shakers 62 



Contents, 7 

CHAPTER XIV.— LOUISIANA. 

Applications must be made to the District Attorney for Incor- 
poration Page 64 

CHAPTER XV.— MAINE. 

Mode of calling Meeting — Organization — Annual and other Meet- 
ings — Parish Meetings — How Called — May raise Money — Assess- 
ments on Pews — Admission to a Parish — Church Officers may be 
deemed Corporations — Conveyances — Oft'enses appertaining to Re- 
ligious Meetings 66 

CHAPTER XVI.— MARYLAND. 

Who may Incorporate — Powers of Trustees — Limitation of In- 
come — ^Where Elections must be Held, and who may Vote — Qualifi- 
cations of Trustees — Ministers are Voters — How settle Disputes — 
Plans adopted at the first Meeting — Recorded — Powers Defined — 
Division of a Society — Disturbing Religious Meetings 79 

CHAPTER XVII.— MASSACHUSETTS. 

Religious Societies to be Corporate — Rights — Societies may Organ- 
ize themselves — Membership — Voters — Organization — Meetings — 
How Warned — Protestant Episcopal Societies — Taxes — Unincorpo- 
rated Societies — Proprietors of Churches — Tmstees of Methodist 
Episcopal Church — Copy of Record — Disturbing Religious Wor- 
ship 87 

CHAPTER XVIII.— MICHIGAN. 

Organization — Minister may Preside — Notice of Election — Certifi- 
cate — Rights and Powers of Trustees — Meetings — How called — 
Voters — Order of Sale — Protestant Episcopal Church — Presbyterian 
Churches — Roman Catholic Churches — Offenses 104 

CHAPTER XIX.— MINNESOTA. 

Body of the Law copied from New York Law of 18 13 — Who may 
Vote — Sale of Real Estate — Succession Established — Trustees may 



8 Contents, 

be chosen according to Denominational Usage — Disturbing Religious 
Meetings Page 124 

CHAPTER XX.— MISSISSIPPI. 
How to Incorporate — Right to Property — Powers of the Corpora- 
tion — Marriages — Disturbing Religious Worship 129 

CHAPTER XXI.— MISSOURI. 

How to Incorporate — Form of Certificate — Disturbance of Re- 
ligious Meetings 135 

CHAPTER XXII.— NEBRASKA. 

Organization — Powers of Trustees — How Supply in case of Va- 
cancy 137 

CHAPTER XXIIL— NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

Societies — How Formed — Powers and Duties of Trustees — Mem- 
bership to be Voluntary — Assessments — Taxes — Donations to Unin- 
corporated Societies — Church Officers may be Corporate Bodies — 
When Ministers may be deemed Corporators — May hold Parsonages 
— Conveyances — Income of Property — Neglects not to affect the Soci- 
ety — Disturbance of Religious Worship 139 

CHAPTER XXIV.— NEW JERSEY. 

Trustees — How first Elected — Powers — Vacancies supplied — 
Dutch Reformed Churches 150 

CHAPTER XXV.— NEW YORK. 

Act of 1813, with general Amendments — Reformed Protestant 
Dutch Church — General Law — Powers of Trustees — Two may Call 
a Meeting — Vacancies — How Filled — Who may Vote — How to In- 
crease or Diminish the Number of Trustees — Sale of Real Estate — 
Trustees of Methodist Episcopal Church in New York city — Amend- 
ment of 1844 — Supplementary Acts of 1875 — Trustees Hold until 
their Successors are Chosen — When Removed — Must Administer 
subject to Denominational Usage — Two Societies may Unite — Prot- 
estant Episcopal Church — Baptist Church— Roman Catholic Church 
— Presiding Elder Districts — Parsonages — Camp Grounds — Presby- 



Contents. 9 

teries may Incorporate — Dissolution of Societies — Form for Organi- 
zation Page 155 

CHAPTER XXVI.— NORTH CAROLINA. 

Donations — Vacant Lands — Societies may appoint Trustees — 

How Removed — Penalties for Obstructing the Way to Places of 

Worship — Exhibitions — Sale of Liquor — Quakers may wear Hats 

in Court 204 

CHAPTER XXVIL— OHIO. 

What Societies may Incorporate — Certificates to be Recorded — 
Repeal of Acts of 1858 and i860 — Sale of Real Estate — Disturbance 
of Religious Meetings — Property of Disturbers Forfeited 208 

CHAPTER XXVIIL— OREGON. 

Societies may Incorporate — Articles, where Filed — Powers of the 
Corporation — Protestant Episcopal Church — Bishop, Elder, etc. — 
Religious and Charitable Societies — Crimes against Public Pol- 
icy 215 

CHAPTER XXIX.— PENNSYLVANIA. 

Corporations : (i.) By the Supreme Court ; (2.) By the Courts of 
Common Pleas ; (3.) Courts may Amend Charters ; (4.) Dissolution 
of Corporations — Disturbance of Camp Meetings — Other Religious 
Gatherings 221 

CHAPTER XXX.— SOUTH CAROLINA. 

Protestant Episcopal Church — Methodist Episcopal Church — 
African Methodist Episcopal Church — Any Society may Incorporate 
— Disturbing Religious Meeting 238 

CHAPTER XXXL— TENNESSEE. 

Religious Society — How to Take and Hold Land — Title Vested in 
Trustees — Obstmcting way to Places of Worship — Disturbance — 
Selling Liquors 243 

CHAPTER XXXIL— TEXAS. 
Who may Incorporate — Meetings — How Called — Vacancies — Tax- 
ation Laws of 1874 — Criminal Code 244 



10 Contents. 

CHAPTER XXXIII.— VERMONT. 
Associations Authorized — May Adopt Corporate Name and By- 
Laws — Powers — Stewards may hold Land in Trust — Disturbance 
of Camp-meeting, etc Page 249 

CHAPTER XXXIV.— VIRGINIA AND WEST VIRGINIA. 

Conveyances to be Legalized — Trustees appointed by Circuit 
Court — Limit to Land Held — Real Estate may be Sold 257 

CHAPTER XXXV.— WISCONSIN. 

Trustees, how Elected — Notification of Elections — Who Preside 
at Elections — Powers of Trustees — Classification — Qualification 
of Voters — Proceedings for Sale of Real Estate — Churches may be 
Re-incorporated if Dissolved — Offenses 260 



LAWS 

RELATING TO RELIGIOUS CORPORATIONS. 



Chapter I.— Alabama. 

Eevised Code of 1867.— Title 14, Chapter 2. 

Church or Religious Society may Incorporate by electing Trust- 
ees — Must file Certificate — May hold Real and Personal Estate — 
Laws relating to Disturbance of Religious Meetings. 

Sec. I. The members of any church or religious 
society wishing to become incorporated must elect 
trustees, not less than three nor more than nine. 

Sec. 2. Such trustees, within thirty days after 
their election, must file, in the office of judge of 
probate of the county, a certificate stating the cor- 
porate name selected, the names of the trustees, 
the length of time for which they were elected ; 
which must be subscribed by them, and recorded in 
the office of such judge of probate. 

Sec. 3. The members of such church or society, 
their associates and successors, are, from the filing 
of such certificate, incorporated by the name speci- 
fied therein. 

Sec. 4. The judge of probate is entitled to a fee of 
two dollars for filing and recording such certificate. 

Sec. 5. All certificates filed under the provisions 
of this chapter must be recorded in the office of the 
judge of probate, and a copy thereof duly certified 



12 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

by such judge, stating the time when the same was 
filed, is evidence of the existence of such corpora- 
tion from that time. 

Sec. 6. Corporations created under this chapter 
may hold real and personal property not exceeding 
in value fifty thousand dollars ; may receive prop- 
erty by gift, will, or devise, holding the same in 
conformity with all lawful conditions imposed by 
the donor, and exercise such other powers as are' 
incident to private corporations. 

DISTURBING RELIGIOUS WORSHIP. 
Part Fourtli.— Title 1, Chapter 5. 

Any person who v/illfully interrupts or disturbs 
any assemblage of people met for religious worship, 
by noise, profane discourse, rude or indecent be- 
havior, or any other act, at or near the place of 
worship, must, on conviction, be fined not less than 
twenty nor more than two hundred dollars, and 
may also be imprisoned in the county jail, or sen- 
tenced to hard labor for the county, for not more 
than six months. 



Chapter II.— California. 

HittePs General Laws. — Corporations, Chapter 8. 

How Societies may Incorporate — Certificates — Powers of Trustees 
— Church Functionaries may act as Trustees — Disturbance of Camp 
and other Religious Meetings. 

Sec. 175. It shall be lawful for all churches, con- 
gregations, and religious societies, by such rules or 
methods as their rules, regulations, or discipline 
may direct, to appoint or elect any number, not less 



California. 1 3 

than three nor more than fifteen, as trustees or di- 
rectors, to take charge of the estate and property 
belonging thereto, and to transact all affairs relative 
to the temporalities thereof. 

Sec. 176. Upon the appointment or election of 
such trustees or directors, a certificate of such ap- 
pointment or election shall be executed by the per- 
son or persons making the appointment, or the 
judges holding the election, stating the names of 
the trustees or directors. The name by which said 
corporation shall thereafter forever be called and 
known shall be particularly mentioned and speci- 
fied in the certificate made at the first election or 
appointment of trustees or directors. 

Sec. 177. Such certificate shall be acknowledged 
by the persons making the same, or proved by a 
subscribing witness thereto, before some officer au- 
thorized to take the acknowledgment of deeds, and 
recorded, together with the certificate of such ac- 
knowledgment or proof, by the clerk of the county 
within which such church, congregation, or religious 
society shall be situated. 

Sec. 184. Whenever the rules, regulations, and 
discipline of any religious denomination, society, or 
church require for the administration of the tem- 
poralities thereof, and the management of the estate 
and property thereof, it shall be lawful for the 
bishop, chief priest, or presiding elder of such relig- 
ious denomination, society, or church to become 
a sole corporation, in the manner prescribed in this 
chapter, as nearly as may be, and with all the pow- 
ers and duties, and for the uses and purposes in this 



14 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

chapter provided for religious incorporations, and 
subject to all the conditions, Hmitations, and pro- 
visions in this chapter prescribed. Provided, that 
for proof of the appointment or election of such 
bishop, chief priest, or presiding elder, it shall be 
sufficient to record, with the county clerk of the 
county in which such bishop, chief priest, or pre- 
siding elder resides, the original or a copy of his 
commission or certificate, or letters of election or 
appointment duly attested ; and that all property 
held by such bishop, chief priest, or presiding elder 
shall be in trust for the use, purpose, and behalf of 
his religious denomination, society, or church ; and 
the limitations (that the income of such property 
shall not exceed the sum of $20,000) shall not apply 
to such sole corporation ; and provided, also, that 
the district judge of the district in which any relig- 
ious corporation is formed, must at all times have 
access to the books of the corporation. 

DISTURBING RELIGIOUS WORSHIP. 

Sec. it/. Every person who shall willfully dis- 
quiet or disturb any congregation, or assembly of 
people met for religious worship, by making a noise, 
or by rude or indecent behavior, or profane dis- 
course within their place of worship, or so near to 
the same as to disturb the order or solemnity of the 
meeting, or menace, threaten, or assault any person 
there being, shall be deemed guilty of a misde- 
meanor, and punished by fine not exceeding five 
hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county 
jail not exceeding three months. 



California. 15 

Sec. 118. Every person who shall erect or keep 
a booth, tent, stall, or other contrivance, for the 
purpose of selling or otherwise disposing of any 
wine, spirituous or intoxicating liquors, or any drink 
of which wines, spirituous or intoxicating liquors 
form a part, or for selling or otherwise disposing 
of any other article or articles of merchandise, 
trade, or profit, or who shall peddle, or hawk about, 
or sell any such drink, article, or articles, within one 
mile of any camp or field meeting for religious wor- 
ship, during the time of holding such meeting, shall 
be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and be pun- 
ished by a fine of not less than five nor more than 
five hundred dollars ; provided that nothing in this 
act contained shall in anywise affect the right of 
any person or persons carrying on a regular busi- 
ness in the sale of liquors, or other article of mer- 
chandise, trade, or profit, wholesale or retail, in any 
store, or otherwise, already established, previous to 
the appointment of such religious meeting, as de- 
scribed in this act. 



Chapter I I I. — C o 1 o r a d o. 

Eevised Statutes of 1868.— Chapter 15. 
How Organized — Powers of Trustees — Taxation. 

Sec. I. Whenever three or more citizens of this 
territory belonging to any religious society shall 
desire that said society may enjoy the secular pow- 
ers of bodies corporate, and shall subscribe and 



1 6 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

acknowledge, before any officer authorized to take 
acknowledgments of deeds, and cause to be record- 
ed, in the recorder's office of the county in which 
such society is located, a united declaration of the 
names of such society and the names of its trustees; 
the said society shall thereupon become vested with 
the powers and succession of bodies corporate, to 
acquire and hold real and personal property not 
exceeding fifty thousand dollars in value, for the 
purposes of such religious society ; to convey and 
transfer the same for such purposes; and to sue and 
be sued in the declared name of such society in all 
the courts of this territory. 

Sec. 2. The trustees of any religious society, or 
a majority of them, which has complied with the 
foregoing section, shall have authority to exercise 
the powers hereby conferred upon such society, ac- 
cording to the ordinances, discipline, and usages 
of such society, in respect to its temporal affairs. 

Sec. 3. All real and personal property held by any 
religious society exclusively for its purpose, which 
has complied with the provisions of this chapter, shall 
be exempt from ordinary taxation to an amount not 
over ten thousand dollars. 



Connecticut. IJ 



Chapter IV.— Connecticut. 

Revised Statutes of 1875. — General Provisions. 

General Rights of Societies — How Formed — Membership — How 
Acquired and Terminated — Election of Members — Annual Meet- 
ings — Special Meetings — Officers — Vacancies — Powers of Societies 
— Location of Churches — Taxes — How Laid and Collected — Right 
of Voting — Pews Assessed and Sold — Offenses. 

Sec. I. Christians of every denomination, and 
Jews, may unite to form religious societies ; and 
societies incorporated or formed by voluntary asso- 
ciation for public religious worship shall hold and 
manage all property belonging to them appropri- 
ated to the use and support of public worship, and 
may receive any grants or donations, and by volun- 
tary agreement establish funds for the same object. 

Sec. 2. When any person, not a member of any 
other religious society, shall desire to join any 
religious society, he may sign and lodge with its 
clerk, or if there be no clerk, with any other officer 
thereof, a written declaration of his desire to be- 
come a member of it, which declaration shall be 
read at its next meeting, and thereupon such person 
shall become a member thereof, unless a majority 
shall at such meeting manifest their dissent thereto. 

Sec. 3. Any person may terminate his member- 
ship of any religious society by giving notice in 
writing of his intention to do so to its clerk, or if 
there be no clerk, to any other officer thereof. And 
every religious society may, by a two-thirds vote of 
the members present, at any annual meeting, termi- 
nate the membership of any member who shall have 



1 8 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

become a member of another religious society, or 
who shall have for one year ceased to attend the 
stated public religious services of said society, and 
shall have been notified of the proposed action 
either .personally, or by letter addressed to him at 
his last-known place of residence by the clerk or 
either of the committee of siich society, and depos- 
ited in the post-office, postage paid, not less than 
fifteen days before the time of holding such meet- 
ing. And the clerk of every religious society shall 
prepare and keep with its records a list of its mem- 
bers, and report to each annual meeting the names 
of those persons whose membership shall have 
terminated as above provided. 

Sec. 4. All persons who have heretofore been 
elected members of any religious society in this 
State by a major vote, or in accordance. with any 
established custom of election in such society, and 
whose membership has not heretofore terminated, 
shall be entitled to all the privileges, and liable to 
all the duties, appertaining to members who have 
been elected according to law. 

Sec. 5. The members of the several religious 
societies may annually meet at the usual place of 
holding meetings, or at such place as they shall 
establish, upon warning and notice given, at least 
five days before such meeting, by the committee 
of the society or congregation, or if there be no 
committee, by the clerk, and if there be no clerk, 
by a warrant from the justice of the peace, upon 
application of five or more members of the society. 

Sec. 6. A special meeting of any religious society 



Connecticut. 19 

may at any time be warned by the committee of 
such society, and shall be warned by such commit- 
tee, or if there be no committee, by the clerk, at 
any time, when application in writing for that pur- 
pose is made to such committee or clerk by ten 
members of such society, or by five when all the 
members do not exceed twenty-five. 

Sec. 7. The warning of every meeting of a relig- 
ious society shall, in the absence of any by-law to 
the contrary, be given by posting the same on a 
sign-post in the town nearest where they usually 
meet for public worship, five days at least before 
said meeting ; or by advertising the same for at 
least five days before said meeting in a daily news- 
paper published in said town ; or in the manner 
which shall have been the custom of said society 
during the ten years next preceding. 

Sec. 8. Such societies shall, at their annual meet- 
ings, appoint a clerk, who shall be sworn and make 
entries of all the votes of the society ; three or more 
of their members to be a committee to order the 
affairs of the society for the year ensuing, who shall 
adjust and settle all the claims on the society, and 
draw orders on the treasurer for the payment of the 
same ; a treasurer who shall receive all the money 
belonging to the society, and pay over the same to 
the order of the society, or its committee, and ren- 
der his account therefor when required ; and two or 
more tithingmen, who shall be sworn. 

Sec. 9. Vacancies occurring in any of said offices 
during the course of the year may be filled at any 
special meeting. 



20 Laivs Relating to Religious Corporations, 

Sec. io. Religious societies may meet when nec- 
essary, and adjourn from time to time ; settle min- 
isters according to the usage of their denomination ; 
repair their houses of worship ; make regulations 
for the support of religious worship; establish the 
times and places of holding their meetings, and the 
mode of warning them ; and appoint committees or 
agents to carry into effect their votes. 

Sec. II. Any society may, by a two-thirds vote 
of the members present, agree to build a house of 
worship, and establish the place where it shall be 
erected ; or may apply to the Superior Court in the 
county where such society is situated, to establish 
the place , and such court may establish the place ; 
and it shall not then be lawful to erect it in any 
other place. 

Sec. 12. Every society may lay a tax on its mem- 
bers to build and repair houses of worship ; to pro- 
vide for the annual support of the ministry ; and to 
defray any other expense necessarily incurred in 
the proper business of such society ; which tax may 
be laid on the assessment-list last before, or next 
thereafter to be, completed by the assessors and 
board of relief, and shall be payable within one year 
after the same is granted. 

Sec. 13. The members of each society, at the age 
of twenty-one years, may vote in its meetings ; and 
if any other person shall intermeddle or vote in any 
meeting thereof, he shall forfeit three dollars for 
every such offense, half to him who shall sue there- 
for, and half to the society. 
* Sec. 14. Every religious society may provide for 



Connecticut, 21 

the support of public worship, in whole or in part, 
by an assessment on the pews of its church, to be 
made by the society's committee, or such other 
persons as the society may appoint, the payment 
of which may be enforced by the sale of the use of 
any such pew for such time as may be necessary, on 
giving twenty-one days' notice in a newspaper pub- 
lished in the town where said church is situated, or 
if no paper is published in said town, by posting a 
notice on the door of said church ; a copy of which 
notice shall also be left with the owner of said pew, 
or at his usual place of abode, if within this State, 
at least twenty-one days before such sale ; but no 
other estate shall be liable to be taken for the pay- 
ment of such assessment. No such assessment shall 
be made upon any such not occupied by its owner, 
or by some person claiming under him, at the stated 
public religious services in said house ; and no such 
sale shall be made, unless the owner of such pew 
shall refuse to sell it to the society at the price 
which such society originally received therefor. 

Sec. 15. If the owner or occupant of any pew 
shall neglect or refuse to pay his equitable propor- 
tion of the expenses of maintaining public worship, 
the society may recover the same from him in any 
proper action. 

Sec. 16. When a majority of the pew owners, in 
any house of public worship, shall desire to sell and 
transfer to the religious society connected therewith 
their respective pews, for the purpose of supporting 
public worship in such house, and any other pew- 
holders refuse to sell their respective pews to such 



22 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

society, or cannot agree with such society upon the 
price to be paid for such pews, such society may 
bring its petition to the Superior Court, against the 
person or persons refusing to sell, or failing to agree 
upon a price to be paid as aforesaid ; and if said 
court shall find that it will be for the convenience 
and necessity of such society to own such pews for 
said purpose, the court shall proceed to ascertain 
the value thereof, and may make such order relative 
thereto, and to the cost of such proceeding, as shall 
be deemed just; and when such society shall have 
paid to such pew-owners the amounts awarded to 
them respectively, or, on their refusal to accept the 
same, shall have deposited the same for their use, 
with the clerk of the court, the title to said pews 
shall be then vested in said society. 

Sec. 17. When any society is constituted out of 
two or more adjoining towns, so that part of the 
society in any such town has distinct interests in 
any grants, donations, or sequestrations for the 
support of the ministry, such part of the society 
shall have the same power and authority to manage 
said interests which are herein given to societies, 
and may in the same manner warn meetings of 
such part of a society, and appoint a clerk, who 
shall be sworn, and a committee to take care of said 
interests. 

Sec. 18. No grant, sale, or lease of any pews, in 
any house of worship, for more than one year, shall 
be good, as against any person but the grantor, 
lessor, and his heirs, unless made, executed, and 
acknowledged as deeds of land, and recorded at 



Connecticut, 23 

length by the clerk of such county In a book to be 
kept for that purpose, who shall record the same, 
and receive the same compensation therefor as town 
clerks for recording deeds. 

SOCIETIES OF PARTICULAR DENOMINATIONS. 

Sec. I. The wardens and vestrymen of societies 
connected with the Protestant Episcopal Church 
shall be a society's committee, with all the powers 
granted to committees of religious societies. 

Sec. 2. All conveyances of property that have 
been or shall be made to the trustees of any Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, or Union American Church, 
and to their successors in office, according to the 
usages, rules, and discipline of said Churches, shall 
be effectual in law to convey such property to said 
trustees respectively, and their successors in office, 
for the uses and purposes in such conveyance ex- 
pressed. 

Sec. 3. The trustees of any Methodist Episcopal 
Church, or Union American Church, shall be elected 
by ballot, by the male members of the Church of 
legal age, on the first Monday of September of each 
year, at the usual place of worship of said church, 
of which public notice shall be given from the pul- 
pit thereof at least two Sundays preceding, or by 
posting notice thereof, by the clerk of the board 
of trustees, on the door of the place of worship, at 
least fifteen days next preceding the time of elec- 
tion. The polls of such election shall remain open 
at least one hour after the time designated in the 
notice thereof; and in case of failure to elect on the 



24 Laws Relatmg to Religious Corporations. 

day named in this section, the election may be held 
on any subsequent day of the same month by giv- 
ing legal notice thereof; and if a vacancy should 
occur, it may be filled at any special meeting called 
for that purpose by giving the notice provided in 
this section. And at each election there shall be 
appointed, by the electors present, a chairman and 
clerk, who shall act jointly as inspectors of election, 
receive and count the votes for such trustees, and 
certify under oath who have received the majority 
of votes, which certificate shall be deposited with, 
and kept on file by, the town clerk. 

Sec. 4. The number of trustees shall in no case 
be more than nine, nor less than three, which shall 
be decided by a majority of the electors at the 
first election, and before the votes for trustees are 
cast, and shall remain the same, unless changed by 
two-thirds present and voting at any subsequent 
election. 

Sec. 5. At the first election the inspectors shall 
determine by lot, and as nearly as practicable in 
equal numbers, who of those elected shall serve for 
one, two, or three years; and at each election there- 
after the electors shall elect trustees for three years, 
to fill the vacancy of those whose term of office has 
expired. 

Sec. 6. At their first meeting after each election 
the trustees shall from their number elect a presi- 
dent, a treasurer, and a clerk, and shall meet there- 
after at such times as they may designate, make 
by-laws and keep records of their action, signed by 
the clerk, and shall be a corporation in trust to 



Connecticut, 25 

receive, hold, sell, and convey any property for the 
benefit of their church, according to the discipline 
and usages of the religious denomination to which 
it belongs. 

Sec. 7. When the members of any Methodist 
Episcopal Church shall fail to elect trustees, as 
above provided, the Quarterly Conference of said 
Church may fill the vacancy, as may be prescribed 
in the Discipline of said Church, 

Sec. 8. All conveyances of property that have 
been, or shall be, made by or to the trustees of the 
community in Enfield called Shakers, for the time 
being, duly executed by them in the manner pre- 
scribed by law, shall be good and effectual to con- 
vey the property therein described to the purchaser 
thereof; and all suits brought by said community 
maybe brought and maintained in the names of the 
trustees of said community for the time being ; and 
any demand against said community may be in like 
manner enforced by suit against said trustees for 
the time being ; and in case any or all of said trust- 
ees should die, or be removed from office, during 
the pendency of any such suit, it shall not for that 
cause abate ; but such death or removal being sug- 
gested upon the record, it may be prosecuted to final 
judgment by or against their successors in office. 

Sec. 9. Said community are hereby required to 
file, in the office of the town clerk of Enfield, the 
names of their trustees, and the date of their ap- 
pointment; and a return of any change in the office 
of trustees shall be filed in the same manner. 

Sec. 10. A corporation may be organized in con- 



26 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

nection with any Roman Catholic Church or con- 
gregation in this State, by fiHng in the office of the 
secretary a certificate signed by the bishop and the 
vicar-general of the Diocese of Hartford, and the 
pastor and two laymen belonging to said congrega- 
tion, stating that they have so organized for the 
purposes hereinafter mentioned ; and such bishop, 
vicar-general and pastor of such congregation shall 
be members ex officio of such corporation, and upon 
their death, resignation, removal, or preferment, 
their successors in office shall become such mem- 
bers in their stead. The two lay members shall be 
appointed annually by the committee of the con- 
gregation ; and three members of this corporation, 
of which one shall be a layman, shall constitute a 
quorum for the transaction of business. 

Sec. II. Such corporation may receive and hold 
all property conveyed to it for the purpose of main- 
taining religious worship, according to the doctrine, 
discipline, and ritual of the Roman Catholic Church, 
and for the support of the educational or charitable 
institutions of that Church ; provided, that no one 
incorporated congregation shall at any time possess 
an amount of property, excepting church buildings, 
parsonages, school-houses, asylums, and cemeteries, 
the annual income from which shall exceed three 
thousand dollars. 

Sec. 12. Such corporation shall at all times be 
subject to the general laws and discipline of the 
Roman Catholic Church, and shall receive and enjoy 
its franchises as a body politic solely for the pur- 
poses mentioned in the preceding section ; and 



Connecticut, 27 

upon the violation or surrender of its charter, its 
property, real and personal, shall vest in the bishop 
of the diocese and his successors, in trust for such 
congregation and for the uses and purposes above 
named. 

OFFENSES AGAINST DECENCY. 

Sec. 13. Any person not authorized by the com- 
mittee of a public assembly, convened for religious 
worship in the field, who shall, within two miles of 
such assembly, sell, or expose for sale, from any 
wagon or temporary stand, any article of provisions, 
shall be fined seven dollars. 



Chapter V. — Dela^Tvare. 

Eevised Statutes of 1852— Chapter 39. 

Mode of Incorporation — Trustees — How Elected — Powers — Vacan- 
cies, how Filled — Records — Protestant Episcopal Church — Deeds, 
etc., must be Executed One Year before Decease. 

Sec. I. Any religious society, or congregation of 
Christians, consisting of fifteen or more persons, 
may become incorporated by the election of trust- 
ees, not less than three nor more than twelve, the 
taking a name and certifying the same, under the 
hands and seals of said trustees, to the recorder 
of deeds. 

Sec. 2. Such trustees shall be elected at a pub- 
lic meeting of the society or congregation, held 
at their usual place of worship, on ten days* no- 
tice, by advertisement on the front door of such 



28 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

place, and by a plurality of voters of the members 
present. 

Sec. 3. The trustees so elected, and their suc- 
cessors, shall be a corporation, by the name so 
adopted and certified ; shall have perpetual succes- 
sion, with all the incidents and franchises of a cor- 
poration aggregate, and with power to purchase, 
receive, hold and enjoy property, real and personal, 
for the use of said society or congregation, their 
ministers or members, or for schools, almshouses, 
or burying-grounds. The acts of a majority of the 
trustees shall be valid. 

Sec. 4. All the estate, right and title which any 
such society or congregation may have in any prop- 
erty, real or personal, in themselves, or by trustee, 
or for their use, before incorporation, shall, upon 
incorporation, become vested in the trustees, who 
may grant, demise, or dispose thereof. 

Sec. 5. Other trustees maybe elected, and vacan- 
cies filled by election, as prescribed in section two, 
and the election of a successor shall remove him 
from office. 

Sec. 6. The trustees shall choose one of their 
number chairman. He shall have custody of the 
seal, and all books and papers of the corporation ; 
he shall make fair entries in the books of all the 
proceedings of the trustees, and every member 
of the society or congregation shall have access 
thereto. 

Sec. 7. The registry kept in any such books, of 
marriages, births, deaths, or burials, shall be evi- 
dence in all courts ; and the copy of any entry, 



Delaware, 29 

certified under the corporate seal and hand of the 
chairman, shall be evidence. 

Sec. 8. The trustees may also choose one of the 
number treasurer, and may require him to give 
security. He shall receive and account for all the 
money of the corporation. If no treasurer be 
chosen, the chairman shall receive and account for 
such money. 

Sec. 9. The rector, wardens, and vestrymen of 
any Protestant Episcopal Church, on certifying their 
name or style, as provided in section one, shall be a 
corporation, with the franchises, rights, and powers 
herein vested in trustees of other religious societies. 

Sec. 10. But all gifts or grants to any such cor- 
poration of any real estate, or of money securities, 
or other thing of value, to be laid out in real estate, 
shall be by deed duly executed, delivered, acknowl- 
edged and recorded, at least one year before the 
death of the donor or grantor, to take effect pres- 
ently for the use of the corporation ; and without 
any power of revocation, trust, condition, or limita- 
tion whatever, or the same shall be void, unless 
such grant shall be really and bona fide for a full and 
valuable consideration actually paid, without fraud 
or collusion, before executing such deed. 

Sec. II. The yearly rents and profits of the 
whole real estate held or enjoyed by or for such 
corporation, shall not exceed three hundred dol- 
lars ; and the yearly interest or income of all its 
personal property shall not exceed six hundred 
dollars. 

Sec. 12. All real estate bona fide given or granted 
4 



30 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

by will, deed, or other conveyance, to any religious 
society or congregation, or to any one in trust for 
them, or to their use, before the twentieth day of 
October, 1744, shall be for the use of the same, ac- 
cording to the intent of the donor or grantor, and 
the form and effect of the will, deed, or convey- 
ance ; provided the said society or congregation 
shall have been for twenty years hitherto in the 
adverse and quiet possession of the same. 

Eevised Statutes of 1852.— Chapter 131. 
DISTURBING RELIGIOUS WORSHIP. 

If any person shall willfully interrupt, disturb, or 
molest any church, meeting, congregation, or soci- 
ety assembled for the purpose of religious worship, 
he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and 
shall be fined not less than eight nor more than 
sixty dollars. 



Chapter VI.— District of Columbia. 

Chapter 80, U. S. Laws of 1870.— Section 2. 

Religious Societies may receive and hold One Acre of Land — 
Trustees to hold Title — Certificate — Powers of Trustees — Convey- 
ances — Vacancies — Removal of Trustees — Property reverts on Disso- 
lution—Trustees hold until Successors are Elected — Private Schools. 

That it shall be lawful for the members of any 
society or congregation heretofore formed in this 
District for the purposes of religious worship, and 
for members of any society or congregation which 
may hereafter be formed for the purpose aforesaid, 
to receive by gift, devise, or purchase, a quantity 



District of Columbia, 31 

of land not exceeding one acre, and to erect or 
build thereon such houses and buildings as they 
may deem necessary for the purposes aforesaid, and 
to make such other use of the land, and make such 
other improvements thereon as may be deemed 
necessary for the comfort and convenience of such 
society or congregation ; and such society or con- 
gregation may assume a name, and elect or appoint 
any number of trustees, not exceeding ten, who 
shall be styled trustees of such society or congre- 
gation by the name assumed ; and the title to the 
land purchased, and improvements made, shall be 
vested in the trustees by the name and style assumed 
as aforesaid. 

Immediately after the election or appointment 
of trustees by any society or congregation as afore- 
said, the persons elected or appointed shall make a 
certificate under their hands and seals, stating the 
date of their election or appointment, the name 
of the society or congregation, and length of time 
for which they were elected or appointed, which 
shall be verified by the affidavit of some one of the 
persons making the same, and shall be filed and 
recorded in the office of the register of deeds in 
said District, and the said trustees shall hold their 
office for and during the period stated in the cer- 
tificate aforesaid. At the expiration of their term 
of service, and forever thereafter at the expiration 
of the term of service of any trustee elected or ap- 
pointed as aforesaid, the said society or congrega- 
tion shall elect or appoint successors, who shall in 
like manner continue in office for such period as 



32 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

may be limited by the society or congregation; and 
a certificate of their appointment or election shall 
be made by the trustees, whose term of service shall 
have expired, which shall be verified by affidavit, 
and filed and recorded, as provided in the election 
of officers in the first instance. 

The trustees, elected or appointed under the 
provisions of this division, and their successors, 
shall have perpetual succession and existence ; and 
the title to land herein authorized to be purchased, 
and to the building and improvements thereon, 
shall be vested in the said trustees by their as- 
sumed name, and their successors forever ; and the 
same shall be held for the uses and purposes herein 
named, and no other; and such trustees shall be 
capable in law to sue and be sued, implead and be 
impleaded, answer and be answered unto, defend 
and be defended, in all courts of law or equity 
whatsoever, in and by the name and style assumed 
as aforesaid ; and shall have power, under the di- 
rection of the society or congregation, to sell and 
execute deeds and conveyances of, and concerning 
the estate and property herein authorized to be 
held by said society or congregation ; and such 
deeds or conveyances shall have the same effect as 
like deeds or conveyances by natural persons : pro- 
vided^ that no deed or conveyance shall be made 
of any estate held as aforesaid, so as to defeat or 
destroy the interest or effect of any grant, do- 
nation, or bequest which may be made to any 
such society or congregation ; but all grants, dona- 
tions, and bequests shall be appropriated and used, 



District of Columbia. 33 

as directed by the person or persons making the 
same. 

Every society or congregation formed as afore- 
said, shall have power to provide for filling vacan- 
cies which may happen in the office of trustee, and 
also to remove trustees from oflfice, and to adopt 
such rules and regulations in relation to the duties 
of trustees, and the management of its estate, as the 
members may deem proper, not inconsistent with 
the Constitution of the United States and laws in 
force in the District of Columbia. 

Upon the dissolution of any society or congrega- 
tion formed under the provisions of this division, 
the estate and property of such society or congre- 
gation shall revert back to the persons, their heirs 
and assigns, who may have contributed to the pur- 
chase of, or payment for, the same, according to 
their respective rights. A failure to elect or appoint 
trustees at any tim.e when, by the provisions of this 
division, such election or appointment should be 
had, shall not work a dissolution of the society or 
congregation ; but the trustees last elected or ap- 
pointed shall be considered as in office until another 
election or appointment shall take place. 

The trustees now in office, or those who may 
hereafter be appointed or elected under the pro- 
visions of this division, shall have power, under the 
direction of the society or congregation by whom 
they were elected or appointed, to execute mort- 
gages, or deeds of trust in the nature of mortgages, 
of and concerning the estate and property, which 
any society or congregation are authorized by this 



34 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

division to hold, or to lease the same, for a term 
not exceeding ten years. And such mortgages, 
deeds, and conveyances shall have the same effect, 
and be enforced by the same remedies and proceed- 
ings as like mortgages, deeds, leases, and convey- 
ances made by natural persons, any thing in this 
division to the contrary notwithstanding. 

The provisions of this division are intended to 
extend to members of societies, heretofore or here- 
after to be formed, for the purpose of establishing and 
maintaining private schools for religious purposes. 

This act shall not be so construed as conferring 
privileges, or any benefits to such societies under 
the school laws of this district. 



Chapter V I I. — F 1 o r i da. 

Thompson's Digest, Title 8.— Chapter 11. 

How to Incorporate — Powers — Property of Religious Societies — 
Disturbing Worship. 

Sec. I. The members of any society or congre- 
gation formed for purposes of religious worship, 
may receive, by gift, devise, or purchase, a quantity 
of land not exceeding ten acres, and erect or build 
thereon such houses and buildings as they may 
deem necessary for such purposes, and make such 
other use of the land, and make such other im- 
provements thereon as may be deemed necessary 
for the comfort and convenience of such society or 
congregation ; and such society or congregation 
may assume a name, and elect or appoint any num- 
ber of trustees, not exceeding ten, who shall be 



Florida. 35 

styled trustees of such society or congregation, or 
wardens, or vestrymen of such society or congrega- 
tion by the name assumed, and the title to the land 
purchased and improvements made is vested in the 
trustees by the name and style aforesaid. 

Sec. 2. Immediately after the election or appoint- 
ment of trustees by any such society or congrega- 
tion, the persons elected or appointed must make a 
certificate, under their hands and seals, stating the 
date of their election or appointment, the name of 
their society or congregation, and the length of time 
for which they were elected or appointed, which must 
be verified by the affidavit of some one of the per- 
sons making the same, and must be recorded in the 
office of the public records of the county in which 
such society or congregation may be formed ; and the 
trustees, by whatever title they may be designated, 
must hold their office for and during the period 
stated in such certificate. At the expiration of their 
term of service, and forever thereafter at the expi- 
ration of the term of service, of any trustee elected 
or appointed as aforesaid, the said society or con- 
gregation must elect or appoint successors, who in 
like manner will continue in office for such period 
as may be limited by the society or congregation ; 
and a certificate of their election or appointment 
must be made by the trustees whose term of serv- 
ice shall have expired ; which must also be verified 
by affidavit, and recorded as provided in the elec- 
tion or appointment of trustees in the first instance. 

Sec. 3. The trustees elected or appointed as 
aforesaid, and their successors, will have perpetual 



36 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

succession and existence, and be to all intents and 
purposes a body corporate. The title to land au- 
thorized to be purchased as aforesaid, and to the 
buildings and improvements thereon, becomes vest- 
ed in the said trustees by their assumed name, and 
their successors forever; and the same must be held 
for the uses and purposes in this chapter named, 
and no other ; and such trustees are made capable 
in law to sue and be sued, implead and be implead- 
ed, answer and be answered unto, defend and be 
defended in all courts of law or equity whatsoever, 
in and by the name and style as aforesaid; and they 
have power, under the direction of the society or 
congregation, to execute deeds and conveyances of 
and concerning the estate and property authorized 
to be held by such society or congregation, and 
such deeds and conveyances will have the same 
effect as like deeds and conveyances made by nat- 
ural persons. No deed or conveyance, however, 
can be made of any estate as aforesaid, so as to 
defeat or destroy the interest or effect of any grant, 
donation, or bequest which may be made to any 
such society or congregation. All grants, dona- 
tions, and bequests to such society or congregation 
must be appropriated and used as directed by the 
person or persons making the same. 

Sec. 4. Every society or congregation formed as 
in this chapter provided, has power to provide for 
filling vacancies which may happen in the office of 
trustee, warden, vestrymen, or office of like nature; 
and also to remove such persons from office, and 
to adopt such rules and regulations in relation to 



Florida. 37 

the duties of trustees, and the management of its 
estate, as to the members may seem proper, not 
inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the 
State, or of the United States. 

Sec. 5. Upon the dissolution of any society or 
congregation formed under the provisions of this 
chapter, the estate and property of such society or 
congregation will revert back to the persons, their 
heirs and assigns, who may have given or contrib- 
uted to the purchase of or payment for, the same, 
according to their respective rights. A failure to 
elect or appoint trustees, or other officers, at any 
time when, by the provisions in this chapter speci- 
fied, such election or appointment should be made, 
will not work a dissolution of the society or congre- 
gation; but the trustees, wardens, or vestrymen last 
elected or appointed will be considered as in office 
until another election or appointment shall take 
place. 

Bush's Digest of 1ST2.— Chapter 48. 
OFFENSES. 

Sec. 19. Whoever willfully interrupts or disturbs 
any assembly of people met for the worship of God, 
shall be punished by imprisonment in the county 
jail not exceeding thirty days, or by fine not ex- 
ceeding fifty dollars. 

Sec. 20. Whoever, during the time of holding 
any camp or field meeting for religious purposes, 
and within one mile of the place of holding such 
meeting, hawks or peddles goods, wares, merchan- 
dise, or, without permission from the authorities 
having charge of such meeting, establishes any tent 



38 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

or booth for vending provisions or refreshments, or 
practices or engages in gaming, or horse-racing, or 
exhibits, or offers to exhibit, shows or plays, shall 
forfeit, for each offense, a sum not exceeding twenty- 
dollars ; provided^ that a person having his regular 
and usual place of business within such limits is 
not hereby required to suspend his business. 



Chapter V I I I . — G e o r g i a. 

Cobb^s Digest of the Laws of Georgia, 542. 

Methods — Change of Name — Conveyances — Vacancies — How 
Filled — Form of Petition and Order — Disturbing Worship. 

Sec. I. When the persons interested may desire 
a church or camp-meeting ground incorporated, 
they may petition, in writing, the Superior or Infe- 
rior Court of the county in which such association 
may have been formed, setting forth the object of 
their association and the privilege they desire to ex- 
ercise, together with the name and style by which 
they desire to be incorporated ; and said court are 
thereupon required to pass a rule or order direct- 
ing such petition to be entered of record on the 
minutes of said court ; whereupon such church or 
camp-ground becomes a body corporate. 

Sec. 2. When such church or camp-ground be- 
comes incorporated as aforesaid, it has power, under 
and by the name designated in the said petition, to 
have and use a common seal, to contract and be 
contracted with, to sue and be sued, to answer and 
be answered unto, in any court of law or equity, 



Georgia. 39 

to appoint such officers as it may deem necessary, 
and to make such rules and regulations as such cor- 
poration may think proper for its own government, 
not contrary to the laws of the State ; but it can 
make no contracts, or purchase or hold any property 
of any kind, except such as may be absolutely neces- 
sary to carry into effect the objects of the incor- 
poration. 

Sec. 3. No such church or camp-ground can be 
incorporated in the manner aforesaid for a longer 
period than fourteen years, though the same may 
be renewed whenever necessary, in the same manner 
as is provided for the original incorporation. The 
clerk of the court is entitled to a fee of five dollars 
for entering the petition and order on the minutes 
of the court and furnishing copy thereof; such certi- 
fied copy is made evidence of the matters therein 
stated in any court of law or equity in the State. 

Sec. 4. All deeds of conveyance, made by any 
person or persons, for any lots of land within the 
State, to any Church or religious society, or to trust- 
ees for the use of any Church or religious society, 
for the purpose of erecting churches or meeting- 
houses, are deemed and taken to be good and valid, 
and available in law for the interests, uses, and pur- 
poses contained in such deeds of conveyance, and all 
lots of land so conveyed are fully and absolutely 
vested in such church, or religious society, or in 
their respective trustees, for the uses and purposes 
in the said deed expressed; to be holden to them, or 
their trustees for their use, by succession, according 
to the mode of Church government or rules of disci- 



40 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

pline exercised by such Churches or reHgious soci- 
eties respectively. 

Sec. 5. All trustees to whom conveyances are 
made, for the purposes in the last preceding section 
expressed, are made subject to the authority of the 
Church or religious society for which they hold the 
same in trust, and may be expelled from the said 
trust by such Church or society, according to the 
form of government or rules of discipline by which 
they may be governed. And every such Church or 
religious society are authorized and empowered to 
fill up all vacancies which may happen in the said 
trusts by death, removal, expulsion, or otherwise ; 
and when any vacancy is filled up the same must be 
certified, under the hand or hands of the person or 
persons presiding in the said society, and according 
to the form of government or discipline practiced 
by the said Church or society ; which certificate 
must express the name of the person appointed to 
fill the vacancy, and the name of the person in 
whose place he may be appointed ; and on the cer- 
tificate being recorded in the office of the clerk of 
the Superior Court of the county in which the land 
lies, the person so appointed to fill such vacancy be- 
comes as fully vested with such trust as if a party 
to, and named in, the original deed. 

Sec. 6. The lots or parcels of land on which the 
churches of the different denominations in the State, 
and the burying grounds attached thereto, are not 
subject to taxation for any purpose, though the lots 
or parcels of land claimed by such Churches must 
not exceed five acres. 



Georgia. 41 

Sec. 7. The form of the petition to become incor- 
porated as a religious society may be as follows : — 

" To the Honorable the Superior Court of the County 

of Richmond : — 

''The petition of the undersigned respectfully 
shows that they are interested in a Christian Church 
association, and desire the same to be incorporated. 
That the said association was formed, and is located 
in the city of Augusta, County of Richmond. That 
the object of such association is to sustain divine 
w^orship and support the gospel ministry according 
to the rites of the Presbyterian Church in the 
United States. That they desire to exercise the 
privileges of a Christian Church and religious soci- 
ety, as the same are guaranteed by the statutes of 
the State of Georgia ; and the name and style by 
which they desire to become incorporated is, ' First 
Presbyterian Church of Augusta.' Your petitioners, 
therefore, pray that said association may be incor- 
porated for the object, with the privileges and the 
name and style above set forth, and your petitioners 
will ever pray," etc. 

The following will answer for the form of the or- 
der to be entered on the petition : — 

In the Matter of the Petition of ^ 

The First Presbyterian Church > 

OF Augusta, to be incorporated. ) 

At a term of the Supreme Court of the County 
of Richmond, held in the County of Augusta on the 

day of , 18 — . Present, Hon. William W. 

Holt, judge.'* 



42 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

On reading the petition in this case, on motion of 
Mr. A. B., of counsel for the petitioners, it is ordered 
and adjudged that the prayer of the said petition- 
ers be granted, and that the said petition be en- 
tered of record in the minutes of the court. 



DISTURBING RELIGIOUS WORSHIP. 

If any person or persons, whomsoever, interrupt 
or disturb any congregation of white persons assem- 
bled at any church, chapel, or meeting-house, or any 
other place for public worship, during the time of 
divine service, it is made the duty of any justice of 
the peace, sheriff, constable, or any civil officer of 
the county, being present when the offense shall be 
committed, to take the person or persons so offend- 
ing into custody; or on complaint, made by any 
person on oath, to issue a warrant against him or 
them so offending. 

It is also made unlawful for any person to sell, or 
cause to be sold, any wine, cider, beer, whisky, gin, 
rum, or brandy, or any other intoxicating liquors, 
within one mile of any meeting-house, or other place 
set apart, or publicly resorted to for divine worship, 
during the time appropriated to such worship. Any 
free white person violating either of these provisions 
in regard to religious worship is deemed guilty of a 
misdemeanor, and is indicted therefor in the Supe- 
rior Courts of the State, as in other criminal cases ; 
and it is made the duty of justices of the peace to 
bind such offenders to be and appear at the Supe- 
rior Courts of the State, as in other criminal cases ; 



Georgia. 43 

and on conviction the offender is liable to be fined 
in a sum not exceeding fifty dollars, and not less 
than ten dollars. — Cobb's Digest^ 1854. 



Chapter IX. — Illinois, 

statutes of 1873-74— Chapter 25. 

Corporations may receive and hold Lands — Certificates — Powers 
of Trustees — Dissolution of Societies — Camp-grounds— Mortgages — 
Trust Deeds — Roman Catholic Churches — Corporate Powers — Dis- 
turbance of Religious Meetings. 

Sec. 47. Any Church, congregation, or society, 
formed for the purpose of religious worship, may 
become incorporated in the manner following, to 
wit : By electing or appointing, according to its 
usages or customs, at any meeting held for that pur- 
pose, two or more of its members as trustees, ward- 
ens, and vestrymen, (or such other officers whose 
powers and duties are similar to those of trustees, as 
shall be agreeable to the usages and customs, rules 
or regulations, of such congregation. Church, or 
society,) and may adopt a corporate name, and upon 
the filing of the affidavit as hereinafter provided, it 
shall be and remain a body politic and corporate by 
the name adopted. 

Sec. 48. The chairman or secretary of such meet- 
ing shall, as soon as may be after such meeting, 
make and file in the office of the recorder of deeds 
in the county in which such congregation, Church, 
or society is organized, (which shall be recorded by 
such recorder,) an affidavit substantially in the fol- 
lowing form : — 



44 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 
State of Illinois, 



County of ^ ^^' 

I, , do solemnly swear, (or affirm, aj the 

case may be,) that at a meeting of the members of 
the , (here insert the name of the Church, con- 
gregation, or society as known before the corpora- 
tion,) held at , (here insert the place of meet- 
ing,) in the county of , and State of Illinois, 

that on the day of , A. D. i8 — , for 

that purpose, the following persons were elected (or 
appointed) trustees, (here insert the names,) (or 
wardens, vestrymen, or other officers, by whatever 
name they choose to adopt, with powers and duties 
suited to trustees,) according to the rules and usages 

of such , (Church, congregation, or society ;) 

and said (Church, society, or congregation) 

adopted as its corporate name r. , (here insert 

the name ;) and at said meeting this affiant acted as 
chairman or secretary, as the case may be. 

(Name.) 

Subscribed and sworn before me this day of 

, i8— . A. B. 

Such affidavit, or a copy thereof, duly certified by 
the recorder, shall be received as evidence of the 
due incorporation of such Church, congregation, or 
society. 

Sec. 49. The term of office of the trustees of any 
such corporation may be determined by the rules or 
by-laws of the Church, congregation, or society. 

Sec. 50. A failure to elect trustees at any time 
shall not work a dissolution of such corporation, but 



Illinois. 45 

the trustees last elected shall be considered as in 
office until their successors are elected. 

Sec. 51. All elections of trustees, after the first, 
and elections to fill vacancies, may be called and 
conducted upon such notice and in such manner as 
may be provided by the rules, usages, or by-laws of 
the congregation, Church, or society ; but the qual- 
ification and number of the trustees shall at all times 
be the same as required in section one. No certif- 
icate of election, after the first, need be filed for 
record. 

Sec. 52. A trustee may be removed from office 
by an election called and conducted in like manner 
as elections for trustees, or his office may be declared 
vacant for a failure to act, immoral conduct, or for 
abandonment of the faith of the congregation, 
Church, or society. 

Sec. 53. Upon the incorporation of any congre- 
gation, Church, or society, all the real and personal 
property held by any person or trustees for the use 
of the members thereof shall immediately vest in 
such corporation, and may be subject to its control, 
and may be used, mortgaged, sold, and conveyed 
the same as if it had been conveyed to such corpora- 
tion by deed ; but no conveyance or mortgage shall 
be made so as to affect or destroy the intent or 
effect of any grant, devise, or donation that may be 
made to such person or trustee for the use of such 
congregation. Church, or society. 

Sec. 54. Any corporation that may be formed for 
religious purposes under this act, or under any law 
of this State for the incorporation of religious soci- 



46 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

eties, may receive by gift, devise, or purchase, land 
not exceeding in quantity (including that already 
held by such corporation) ten acres, and may erect 
or build thereon such houses, buildings, or other im- 
provements as it may deem necessary for the conven- 
ience and comfort of such congregation. Church, or 
society, and may lay out and maintain thereon a 
burying-ground ; but no such property shall be used 
except in the manner expressed in the gift, grant, or 
devise, or if no use or trust is so expressed, except 
for the benefit of the congregation, Church, or so- 
ciety for which it was intended. 

Sec. 55. The trustees shall have the care, cus- 
tody, and control of the real and personal property 
of the corporation, subject to the direction of the 
congregation. Church, or society, and may, w^hen di- 
rected by the congregation, Church, or society, erect 
houses, or buildings and improvements, and repair 
and alter the same, and may, w^hen so directed, 
mortgage, incumber, sell, and convey any real and 
personal estate of such corporation, and enter into 
all lawful contracts in the name of and in behalf 
of such corporation ; Provided, that no mortgage, 
incumbrance, sale or conveyance shall be made of 
any such estate so as to defeat or destroy the effect of 
any gift, grant, devise, or bequest which may be made 
to such corporation ; but all such gifts, grants, de- 
vises, and bequests shall be appropriated and used 
as directed or intended by the person or persons 
making the same. 

Sec. 56. Any congregation, Church, or society, 
heretofore incorporated under the provisions of any 



Illinois. 47 

law for the incorporation of religious societies, may 
become incorporated under the provisions of this 
act relative to religious societies in the same manner 
as if it had not previously been incorporated, in which 
case the new corporation shall be entitled [to,] and 
invested with all the real and personal estate of the 
old corporation in like manner and to the same ex- 
tent as the old corparation, subject to all the debts, 
contracts, and liabilities. The word trustees, wher- 
ever used in this act, shall be construed to include 
wardens, vestrymen, or such other officers as per- 
form the duties of trustees. 

Sec. 57. Any congregation. Church, or society, 
incorporated under this act, may receive by grant, 
devise, or bequest, real estate, not exceeding forty 
acres, for the purpose of holding camp-meetings, 
and may put such improvements thereon as they 
may deem for their comfort or convenience. The 
title to such real estate shall be in such corporation 
subject to like conditions as are provided in this act 
in regard to other real estate held by such corpo- 
ration. 

Sec. 58. The trustees, or any other persons desig- 
nated by such congregation. Church, or society, in- 
corporated under this act, shall have power to pub- 
lish, print, circulate, sell, or give away such religious. 
Sabbath-school and missionary tracts, periodicals or 
books, as they may deem necessary to the promo- 
tion of religion or morality. 

Sec. 59. This act is subject to any limitation or 
modification which may be hereafter enacted by 
general law, as to the amount of real estate and per- 



48 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

sonal property to be held by the corporations re- 
spectively provided for herein for religious purposes. 

Sec. 6o. No corporation, association, or society 
for any purpose, authorized by this act, shall be 
formed under any other act. 

Sec. 6i. All acts, or parts of acts, in conflict with 
the provisions of this act, are hereby repealed ; Pro- 
vided, that the repeal of said acts shall not affect 
any corporation existing under any such acts, or any 
rights or liabilities that may have accrued when this 
act shall take effect ; but such rights and liabilities 
shall remain as though this act had not been 
passed. 

CRIMINAL JURISPRUDENCE— PASSED 1 874. 

Sec. 58. Whoever by menace, profane swearing, 
vulgar language, or any disorderly or unusual con- 
duct, interrupts or disturbs any assembly of people 
met for the worship of God, shall be fined not ex- 
ceeding one hundred dollars. 

Sec. 59. Whoever during the time of holding any 
camp or field meeting for religious purposes, and 
within one mile of the place of holding such meet- 
ing, hawks or peddles goods, wares, or merchandise, 
or, without permission of the authorities having 
charge of such meeting, establishes any tent, booth, 
or other place for vending provisions or refresh- 
ments, or sells or gives away, or offers to sell or give 
away, any spirituous liquor, wine, cider, or beer, or 
practices or engages in gaming or horse-racing, or 
exhibits or offers to exhibit any show or play, shall 
be fined not exceeding one hundred dollars for each 



Illinois. 49 

offense: Provided, That whoever has his regular 
place of business within such Hmits is not hereby 
required to suspend his business. 



Chapter X.—Indiana. 

Gavin and Hord's Eevised Statutes of ISTO— Chapter 168. 

Societies may hold Land — Notice of Election — Certificates — Tenure 
of Office of Trustees — How Chosen — Change of Name — Sale of 
Property — Disturbance of Religious Meetings. 

Sec. I. Any congregation, society, or Church may 
take by purchase, grant, or devise, lots or tracts of 
land, not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, 
upon which to erect buildings for religious worship, 
or for such other purposes as will best attain the ob- 
jects of said several organizations, and for that pur- 
pose, may elect not less than three nor more than 
five trustees, who shall possess the powers and per- 
form the duties herein named. 

Sec. 2. The word '^ society,'' in this act, shall be 
deemed to include Churches, associations, congrega- 
tions, lodges, divisions, and all other orders enumer- 
ated in the preceding section. 

Sec. 3. Notice for election of trustees shall be 
given at least ten days previous thereto, by publica- 
tion in a newspaper of the county, if any, otherwise 
by posting such notice in three public places in the 
proper township, one of which must be at the place 
of the proposed election. Such notice shall state 
the time, place, and object of such election, and the 
same shall be held at the usual place of worship or 
meeting of such society, if any there be. 



50 Lazvs Relating to Religious Corporations. 

Sec. 4. Such society at the first and every subse- 
quent election shall appoint a clerk thereof, who shall 
take, count, and make a poll-list of the votes given 
for trustees ; and within ten days thereafter shall 
deposit in the recorder's office of the county, where 
the real estate granted is situate, a certificate setting 
forth the notice of such election, the time and place 
where the same was held, the name of the society, 
and persons elected as trustees thereof; and the re- 
corder of such county shall record the same among 
the record of deeds in his office. 

Sec. 5. As between such society, the trustees 
thereof, and all persons claiming under them, and 
any person granting real estate thereto, and all per- 
sons claiming under him, such certificate shall be 
conclusive evidence of the matters and things therein 
recited ; and as between such society, the trustees 
thereof, and all persons claiming under them, and 
all other persons, it shall be presumptive evidence 
of such matters. 

Sec. 6. Such trustees shall severally hold their 
offices until their successors are duly chosen ac- 
cording to the rules of the society ; and any society, 
by a majority vote at a meeting of one third of the 
residents thereof, notice being given as aforesaid, 
may remove such trustees and elect others in their 
stead. 

Sec. 7. Such society, or the trustees thereof, when 
authorized [organized] for that purpose, may estab- 
lish all necessary by-laws to carry out the objects of 
its organization. 

Sec. 8. Any society may select or appoint, accord- 



Indiana. 5 1 

ing to its common usage or custom, if they desire it, 
but a certificate of such election or appointment, and 
the record of the same as in case of their election, 
shall not be dispensed with. 

Sec. 9. Such trustees shall be deemed a body 
politic and corporate under such name and style as 
the society may elect, and by that name shall have 
power to contract, sue, be contracted with and sued, 
with like effect as other persons or corporations. 

Sec. 10. Such society may at any meeting, by 
giving ten days* notice of the time and purpose 
thereof, change their corporate name ; but the name 
chosen by such society shall not be assumed until a 
record has first been made of the fact in the record- 
er's office of the proper county. Such change shall 
not affect the rights or liberties of the society, or of 
other persons or parties. 

Sec. II. The trustees chosen, as herein provided, 
after record of their election, or appointment is made 
in the recorder's office of the proper county, shall 
have power and authority, as such trustees, to re- 
ceive conveyances of lands, whether the same be 
by purchase, gift, or otherwise ; and to hold the same 
to their successors in perpetuity, for the sole and 
conclusive benefit of such society, and for the uses 
declared in such conveyance or grant. 

Sec. 12. Such trustees and their successors in 
office may also acquire and possess, for the use of 
any such society, personal property not exceeding in 
value the sum of five thousand dollars, and may 
appropriate the same and the income or interest 
thereof, and all other funds and incomes in their 



52 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

hands as such trustees, for the purposes designated 
by such society not inconsistent with the trust. 

Sec. 13. Such trustees, to more effectually carry 
out the objects of their trust, may sell, loan, or oth- 
erwise dispose of their corporate property ; and any 
conveyance thereof by such trustees, or a majority 
of them, in behalf of such society, shall vest in the 
purchaser of the same, and all the right, title, and 
interest thereto ; but the provisions of this section 
shall not be construed to affect any gift, bequest, or 
devise to such society, or to trustees for its use, nor 
to defeat the intention of the grantor, donor, or 
testator. 

Sec. 14. When any society within the meaning of 
this act shall have been dissolved, from any cause, a 
majority of the persons interested therein may re- 
vive the same within five years after such dissolu- 
tion, by electing a new board of trustees, and mak- 
ing record of such election in the recorder's office of 
the proper county as hereinbefore provided ; and 
whenever, from any cause, any Church or religious 
society holding and possessing property within the 
meaning of this act shall have been dissolved, the 
annual or quarterly conference, or other ecclesias- 
tical body to which such Church or religious society 
is directly subordinate, shall have power to appoint 
trustees in accordance with the customs or usages 
of said Church, to take the charge and control of 
the property of said Church or society until it shall 
be revived as contemplated by this act. 

Sec. 15. The provisions of this act shall extend 
to every society, educational or religious, which, pre- 



Indiana. 53 

vious to its passage, had acquired land for the pur- 
pose of erecting a house of worship, or other appro- 
priate building, not exceeding five acres, upon 
condition that the consent of two thirds of the per- 
sons interested in such land be first obtained, and 
the trustees be elected and certified, and such other 
proceedings had, as hereinbefore directed for the 
election of trustees. 

Sec. 16. The officers of any society, by whatever 
name such officer may be designated, elected in the 
manner prescribed by this act, or according to the 
rules of any Church, society, or order, may, when- 
ever the laws or usages of the same require it, per- 
form the duties of trustees, and in their proper name 
and title shall possess all the powers, and be subject 
to the same liabilities as trustees, and the certificate 
of the election of such officers shall be recorded in 
the recorder's office of the proper county, as in the 
case of trustees. 

Sec. 17. All the provisions of this act are hereby 
extended, so far as the same may be applicable, to 
any individuals who may unite themselves together 
for the purpose of receiving donations of lands, or 
purchasing the same for cemeteries. 

Sec. 18. When such donations or purchases shall 
be made to or by any such individuals, and a certif- 
icate thereof or conveyance therefor, together with 
the articles of association, by which such individuals 
have become united for such purposes, shall be filed 
in the office of the recorder of the proper county, 
and by him recorded, such individuals shall enjoy all 
the privileges necessary for the preservation and 



54 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

protection of such cemetery in the same manner as 
if such individuals were regularly incorporated by 
law, and such cemetery shall forever remain a burial 
place for the dead. 

Sec. 19. Lands conveyed to the board of county 
commissioners, by deed duly recorded, for the pur- 
pose of a public or private cemetery, shall be held 
by such board forever in trust for such purposes. 

Sec. 20. In all cases where the donors or donees 
of any public burying-ground shall lay off the same 
into lots, plainly designated by corner-stones or 
posts, and record a plat thereof in the recorder's 
office, then persons interring in said burying-place 
shall bury within the lots so designated, and not out 
of them. 

Sec. 21. The donor of a private burying-ground, 
his heirs, and assigns forever, shall have the exclu- 
sive right of admitting corpses for interment, and 
shall direct where the same shall be buried ; and 
may grant any right of burial in such ground as shall 
not interfere with the graves already there, or the 
rights of persons who have buried their dead in such 
ground. 

Sec. 22. No burying-ground specified in this act 
shall pass, or be held contrary to the intent or mean- 
ing of this section, by virtue of any subsequent de- 
vise, purchase, descent, or conveyance of the donor. 

Part III, Chapter 7. 
DISTURBING RELIGIOUS MEETINGS. 

Sec. 38. If any person shall disturb any religious 
society, or a member thereof, when met or meeting 



Indiana. 5 5 

together for public worship, or shall sell or give 
away spirituous liquor at any booth, wagon, shed, or 
open place, or in any building temporarily erected 
for the purpose of selling such liquors, within two 
miles of any collection of the people convened for 
the purpose of public worship, or shall disturb any 
collection of people convened for any lawful pur- 
pose, such person shall be fined not exceeding fifty 
nor less than five dollars, and imprisonment not 
exceeding thirty days may be added. 



Chapter XI. — Io^7va. 

Code of Iowa, 1873.— Title 9, Chapter 2. 

Corporations — How Formed — Certificates — Powers — Elections — 
Devises and Bequests — Offenses — How Punished. 

Sec. 1095. Any three or more persons of full age, 
citizens of the United States, a majority of whom 
shall be citizens of this State, who desire to associ- 
ate themselves for benevolent, charitable, scientific, 
religious, or missionary purposes, may make, sign, 
and acknowledge before any officer authorized to 
take the acknowledgments of deeds in this State, 
and have recorded in the office of the recorder of 
the county in which the business of such society is 
to be conducted, a certificate in writing, in which 
shall be stated the name or title by which such so- 
ciety shall be known, the particular business and 
objects of such society, the number of trustees, di- 
rectors, or managers to conduct the same, and the 



$6 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

name of the trustees, directors, or managers of such 
society for the first year of its existence. 

Sec. 1096. Upon fiHng for record the certificate 
as aforesaid, the persons who shall have signed and 
acknowledged such certificate, and their associates 
and successors, shall, by virtue hereof, be a body 
politic and corporate by the name stated in such 
certificate, and by that, they and their successors 
shall and may have succession, and shall be capable 
of suing and being sued, and may have and use a 
common seal, which they may alter or change at 
pleasure ; and they and their successors, by their 
corporate name, shall be capable of taking, receiving, 
purchasing, and holding real and personal estate, 
and of making by-laws for the management of its 
affairs not inconsistent with law. 

Sec. 1097. The society so incorporated may, an- 
nually or oftener, elect from its members its trust- 
ees, directors, or managers, at such time and place, 
and in such manner, as may be specified in its by- 
laws, who shall have the control and management 
of the affairs and funds of the society, a majority 
of whom shall be a quorum for the transaction of 
business ; and whenever any vacancy shall happen 
among such trustees, directors, or managers, by 
death, resignation, or neglect to serve, such vacancy 
shall be filled in such manner as shall be provided 
by the by-laws of such society. When the body 
corporate consists of trustees, directors, or managers 
of any benevolent, charitable, literary, scientific, re- 
ligious, or missionary institution, which is or may be 
established in this State, and which is or may be 



Iowa, 57 

under the patronage, control, direction, or super- 
vision of any synod, conference, association, or other 
ecclesiastical body in such State, established agree- 
ably to the laws thereof, such ecclesiastical body 
may nominate and appoint such trustees, directors, 
or managers according to the usages of the appoint- 
ing body, and may fill any vacancy which may occur 
among such trustees, directors, or managers ; and 
when any such institution may be under the patron- 
age, control, direction, or supervision of two or more 
of such synods, conferences, associations, or other 
ecclesiastical bodies, such bodies may severally nom- 
inate and appoint such proportion of such trustees, 
directors, or managers, as shall be agreed upon by 
those bodies immediately concerned. And any va- 
cancy occurring among such appointees last named 
shall be filled by the synod, conference, association, 
or body having appointed the last incumbent. 

Sec. 1098. Any corporation in this State of an ac- 
ademical character, the memberships of which shall 
consist of lay members and pastors of Churches, 
delegates to any synod, conference, or council, hold- 
ing its annual meetings alternately in this and one 
or more adjoining States, may hold its annual meet- 
ings for the election of officers and the transaction of 
business, in any adjoining State to this, at such place 
therein as the said synod, conference, or council 
shall hold its annual meeting ; and the elections so 
held and business so transacted shall be as legal and 
binding as if held and transacted at the place of 
business of the corporation in this State. 

Sec. 1099. In case an election of trustees, direct- 



58 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

ors, or managers shall not be made on the day des- 
ignated by the by-laws, said society for that cause 
shall not be dissolved, but such election may take 
place on any other day directed by such by-laws. 

Sec. iioo. The provisions of this chapter shall 
not extend or apply to any association or individual 
who shall, in the certificate filed with the recorder, 
use or specify or name or style the same as that of 
any previously existing incorporated society in the 
county. 

Sec. iioi. Any corporation formed under this 
chapter shall be capable of taking, holding, or receiv- 
ing property, by virtue of any devise or bequest con- 
tained in any last will or testament of any person 
whatsoever ; but no person leaving a wife, child, or 
parent, shall devise or bequeath to such institution or 
corporation more than one fourth of his estate after 
the payment of his debts, and such devise or bequest 
shall be valid only to the extent of such one fourth. 

Sec. II02. The trustees, directors, or stockhold- 
ers of any existing benevolent, charitable, scientific, 
missionary, or religious corporation, may, by con- 
forming to the requirements of section 1095 of this 
chapter, re-incorporate themselves, or continue their 
existing corporate powers, and all the property and 
effects of such existing corporation shall vest in and 
belong to the corporation so re-incorporated or 
continued. 

Chafyter IX, Title 24. 
OFFENSES. 

Sec. 4023. If any person willfully disturb or dis- 
quiet any assembly of persons met for religions wor- 



Iowa, 59 

ship, by profane discourse or rude and indecent be- 
havior, or by making a noise either within the place 
of worship, or so near as to disturb the order and 
solemnity of the assembly, he shall be punished by 
imprisonment in the county jail not more than 
thirty days, or by fine, not exceeding one hundred 
dollars. 

Sec. 4024. If any person within one mile from 
the place where any religious society is collected 
together for religious worship, in any field or wood- 
land, expose to sale or gift any spirituous or other 
liquors, or any article of merchandise, or any pro- 
visions, or other article of traffic, he shall be punished 
by imprisonment in the county jail not more than 
thirty days, or by fine not exceeding one hundred 
dollars. 

Sec. 4025. The preceding section does not apply 
to tavern or grocery keepers, exercising their calling 
or business in the places mentioned in their licenses, 
if they have such, nor to any distillers or manufac- 
turers, or others in the prosecution of their ordinary 
calling or business, so as to prevent them from 
vending or exposing to sale the articles above pro- 
hibited at their place of residence ; nor to any per- 
son who has a written permit from the person having 
the charge of such religious society to sell any of 
such prohibited articles, on complying with the reg- 
ulations of such religious assembly, and with the 
laws of the States. 



6o Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 



Chapter XII. — Kansas. 

General Laws, 1868— Chapter 23. 

How Corporations are Formed — Acknowledged — Filed — Religious 
Societies — Disturbance of Public Worship. 

Sec. 8. The charter of an intended corporation 
must be subscribed by five or more persons, three 
of whom, at least, must be citizens of this State, 
and must be acknowledged by them, before an 
officer duly authorized to take acknowledgments 
of deeds. 

Sec. 9. Such charter shall thereupon be filed in 
the office of the secretary of state, who shall record 
the same at length in a book to be kept for that 
purpose, and retain the original on file at his office. 
A copy of the charter, or of the record thereof duly 
certified by the secretary of state, under the great 
seal of the State, shall be evidence of the creation 
of the corporation. 

Sec. 10. The existence of the corporation shall 
date from the time of filing the charter, and the 
certificate of the secretary of state shall be evidence 
of the time of such filing. 

Sec. 122. Any religious society, military or fire 
company, literary, charitable, or benevolent associ- 
ation, other than colleges, universities, academies, 
or seminaries, or any grand or subordinate lodge 
of Free and Accepted Masons, or of the. Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, may, by the consent 
of a majority of its members, become bodies cor- 
porate under this act, by filing the charter required 



Kansas, 6i 

by this act, electing directors, or trustees, and per- 
forming the things, as are directed in the case of 
other corporations ; and when so organized, shall 
have all the powers and privileges, and be subject 
to all the restrictions in this act contained for the 
objects named in the charter, and shall have the 
same power to make by-laws for the regulation of 
their affairs as other corporations. Such directors 
or trustees shall not usurp or exercise the functions 
of the officers in charge of the spiritual affairs of any 
society. 

Sec. 123. No religious, literary, scientific, indus- 
trial, benevolent, or other society, association, com- 
pany, corporation, or institution that does not have 
a capital stock will be required in its charter to 
make any statement of the amount of capital stock, 
or amount of each share ; but such charter, if it 
contains the other statements therein required, and 
also an estimate of the value of goods, chattels, 
lands, rights, and credits owned by the corporation, 
will be sufficient. 

Chapter 81. 
DISTURBANCE OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 

Sec. 252. Every person who shall willfully, ma- 
liciously, or contemptuously disquiet or disturb any 
congregation or assembly of people met for religious 
worship by making a noise, or by rude or indecent 
behavior, or profane discourse within their place of 
worship, or so near to the same as to disturb the 
order or solemnity of the meeting, or menace, or 

assault any person there being, shall be guilty of a 
6 



62 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

misdemeanor, and punished by fine not exceeding 
one hundred dollars ; and if unable to pay the fine, 
by confinement in the county jail not exceeding 
three months. 

Sec. 254. Every person who shall erect or keep 
a booth, tent, stall, or other contrivance for the 
purpose of selling or otherwise disposing of any 
wine, or spirituous or fermented liquors, or any 
drink of which wine, spirituous or fermented liquors 
form a part, within one mile of any camp or field 
meeting for religious worship, during the time of 
holding such meeting, shall, upon conviction, be 
adjudged guilty of a misdemeanor, and punished 
by fine not exceeding ten dollars. 



Chapter XIII. — Kentucky. 

Stanton's Eevised Statutes, 1860 — Chapter 14. 

Grants for Charitable Uses — Not defeated for want of Trustee — 
Churches limited to Fifty Acres — Trustees to be Appointed — Records 
— Schisms — Excommunication — Dissolution — Shakers. 

CHARITABLE USES AND RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES. 

Sec. I. That all grants, conveyances, devises, gifts, 
appointments, and assignments heretofore made, or 
which shall be hereafter made in due form of law, 
of any lands, tenements, rents, annuities, profits, 
hereditaments, goods, chattels, money, stocks, or 
choses in action for the relief or benefit of aged 
or impotent and poor people, sick and maimed sol- 
diers and marines, schools of learning, seminaries, 
colleges, universities, navigation, bridges, ports, ha- 



Kentucky, 63 

vens, causeways, public highways, churches, houses 
of correction, hospitals, asylums, idiots, lunatics, 
deaf and dumb persons, the blind, or in aid of 
young tradesmen, orphans, or for the redemption 
of prisoners or captives, setting out of soldiers, shall 
be valid, except as hereinafter restricted. 

Sec. 2. No charity shall be defeated for want of a 
trustee or other person in whom the title may vest; 
but courts of equity may uphold the same by ap- 
pointing trustees, if there be none, or by taking 
control of the fund or property, and directing its 
management, and settling who is the beneficiary 
thereof. 

Sec. 3. No church or society of Christians shall 
be capable of taking or holding the title, legal or 
equitable, to exceeding fifty acres of ground ; but 
may acquire and hold that quantity for the purpose 
of erecting thereon houses of public worship, public 
instruction, a parsonage, a grave-yard, and a horse 
pound. 

1. The society may, before or after the creation 
of the charity, appoint not exceeding three trustees, 
who, and their successors, shall be vested with the 
title, legal or equitable, to such property for the 
use of such society. 

2. The society shall enter such appointment on 
its record-books, a majority concurring therein, and 
may fill vacancies in like manner. 

3. The trustees, or a majority of them, may, in 
their own names, for the use of the society, institute 
and prosecute suits to recover any property, real or 
personal, to which the society has right, and may 



64 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

defend any suit that shall be instituted against the 
trustees or society for, or touching its temporalities. 

4. In case a schism or division shall take place in 
a society, the trustees shall permit each party to 
use the church and appurtenances for divine wor- 
ship, a part of the time proportioned to the members 
of each party. 

5. The excommunication of one party by the 
other, shall not impair such right, except it be done 
bona fide on the grounds of immorality. 

Sec. 4. If any society holding lands shall dis- 
solve, the title to such lands and appurtenances shall 
vest in the trustees of the seminary in which the 
land may lie, for the use of such seminary ; and if 
there be no such seminary, then in the county 
court, for the benefit of common schools in the 
county. The provisions in this section shall not 
apply to the society called Shakers, who shall have 
the same right to acquire and hold real estate as 
they have had prior to the passage of this act. 



Chapter X I V. — L o u i s i a n a. 

Revised Statutes of 1870. — (The Act is a general one.) 
Application must be made to the District Attorney for Incorporation. 

Sec. 6']']. Whenever any number of persons ex- 
ceeding six may be desirous of forming themselves 
into a corporation or body politic for any religious, 
scientific, literary, or charitable purpose, and to 
acquire and enjoy the rights, privileges, and powers 



Louisiana. 65 

of a body corporate and politic in law, it shall be 
lawful for such persons to prepare and sign an in- 
strument, either in authentic form or under private 
signature, wherein they shall declare and specify 
the purposes and objects of such corporation; the 
name, style, and title thereof; the place chosen for 
its domicil ; the managers and officers of such cor- 
poration are to be chosen, the officer on whom 
citations may be served, and the length of time 
during which the corporation shall exist and con- 
tinue. The act of incorporation shall be handed 
to the district attorney of the district in which the 
domicil is fixed, for examination as to its legality ; 
and should he be of the opinion that the purposes 
and objects of the corporation, as specified in said 
act, are legal, and that none of the provisions there- 
in contained are contrary to law, he shall indorse 
his opinion to that effect thereon. The act, together 
with the opinion of the district attorney, shall then 
be recorded in the office of the parish recorder, or 
other officer performing the duties of parish re- 
corder, which act, when so recorded, shall constitute 
the subscribers to the same, and their associates 
and successors, a body politic and corporate, for the 
purposes and objects declared and contained in the 
act, and shall have continuance and succession by 
the name, style, and title as set forth in the act duly 
certified by the officer, in whose office the same is 
recorded, and shall be full and complete evidence 
of the contents of the original act. 
The balance of powers is general. 



66 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 
Chapter XV. — Maine. 

Eevised Statutes of 1871.— Chapter 12. 

Mode of calling Meeting — Organization — Annual and other Meet- 
ings — Parish Meetings — How Called — May raise Money — Assess- 
ments on Pews— Admission to a Parish — Church Officers may be 
deemed Corporations — Conveyances — Oftenses appertaining to'lR.e- 
ligious Meetings. 

Sec. I. Arwy persons of the age of twenty-one 
years or more desirous of becoming an incorporated 
parish or religious society may apply to a justice 
of the peace of the county in which a majority of 
them reside, who is required to issue his warrant to 
one of them directing him to notify the other ap- 
plicants to meet at some proper place expressed in 
such warrant. The person to whom such warrant 
is directed must give notice of such meeting seven 
days at least before holding the same by posting a 
notification thereof on the outer door of the meet- 
ing-house or place of worship of such society, if any, 
otherwise at such place as the justice appoints. 

Sec. 2. Such persons so assembled may choose a 
clerk and other needful parish officers, and there- 
upon they are declared to be a corporation bearing 
the name they assume, and possessing all the powers 
of parishes and religious societies. 

Sec. 3. Every parish may take, by gift or pur- 
chase, any real or personal estate until the clear 
annual income thereof amounts to three thousand 
dollars, and may convey such real or personal es- 
tate, and establish by-laws not repugnant to the 
laws of the State. 



Maine, 67 

Sec. 4. The annual or other meetings of the par- 
ish may be called by its assessors, to be held at the 
time and place in the town where they are usually 
held, and notified in the same manner as agreed on 
by the votes of the parish. At such meeting the 
parish or society may choose a clerk, (who must 
take an oath of office,) two or more assessors, a col- 
lector, treasurer, standing committee, and all other 
and needful officers. The assessors must manage 
the prudential concerns of the parish when no other 
persons are appointed for that purpose, and they 
must also be duly sworn. 

Sec. 5. The moderator, at any meeting, shall have 
power to preserve order, manage the business, and 
administer the oath to the clerk and assessors. 

Sec. 6. When five members of any parish, in 
writing, request the assessors to call a meeting, or 
insert any particular article in the warrant therefor, 
they shall do so. 

Sec. 7. If they unreasonably refuse to do so, any 
justice of the peace in the county, on like applica- 
tion, may issue his warrant to one of the applicants, 
who must notify such meeting in the same manner 
as prescribed for the first meeting, or as agreed on 
by parish vote. 

Sec. 8. When there has been no meeting of such 
parish or society for three years, a meeting may be 
called as provided in section thirty-four. 

Sec. 9. Every parish, at a legal meeting, may 
raise money for the support of the public ministry 
of religion, for building, repairing, or removing 
houses of public worship, and for other necessary 



68 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

parish charges, and the same may be assessed and 
collected as State taxes are. 

Sec. io. When a house of public worship belongs 
to a parish, or it and the fee of the land on which it 
stands is vested in trustees for the use of the parish, 
such parish may assess any money raised for the 
purposes specified in the last preceding section, 
wholly or partly on the pews or seats, whether 
owned by members of such parish or religious soci- 
ety or not ; and the owners may be present and 
vote in raising such money. 

Sec. II. When taxes on pews and seats remain 
unpaid for six months after their assessment, the 
treasurer of the parish or society is required to sell 
them at auction, first posting notice thereof at the 
principal outer door of the house of worship con- 
taining such pews or seats three weeks before the 
time of sale, stating the numbers, if any, of the 
pews or seats, and the amount of tax on each, and 
on such sale the treasurer must execute and deliver 
a deed of the pew or seat sold to the purchaser, and 
pay the owner the overplus after deducting the 
amount of tax and the incidental charges. 

Sec. 12. All money paid by any person for the 
support of public worship by a tax on a pew or seat 
must be paid to such teacher of his own religious 
sect as he may designate in a written notice left 
with the clerk of the parish on or before the annual 
meeting, unless he uses such pew or seat by himself 
or others ; and it is sufficient if such teacher is or- 
dained or qualified according to the usages of his 
particular sect or communion. 



Maine, 69 

Sec. 13. A parish in the actual occupancy of a 
church, meeting-house, or other building used for 
religious purposes, may insure it against loss by fire. 
And in case of such loss the company insuring will 
not be permitted to deny the occupancy of the par- 
ish its legal existence, or its right to maintain an 
action on the policy. The money recovered must 
be held by the parish in trust for repairing or 
restoring the building, and be so appHed. 

Sec. 14. A person may become a member of a 
parish or religious society by vote thereof at a 
legal meeting. 

Sec. 15. Any person of age residing in a local 
parish holding funds derived from the State of 
Maine or of Massachusetts is by law deemed a 
member of such parish or religious society until 
he dissolves the connection ; and any such person 
having resided in such parish one year after he has 
arrived to the age of majority, without giving writ- 
ten notice to its clerk of his consent to be a mem- 
ber thereof, or paying a tax, or subscription, ac- 
cording to whichever of these modes the parish 
may have adopted to raise money for lawful pur- 
poses, will be deemed to have thereby dissolved his 
connection therewith ; and the connection will re- 
main dissolved, and such person shall not be taxa- 
ble, until he renews the connection, by giving writ- 
ten notice to the clerk of his consent to be a mem- 
ber of the parish ; and any person of age residing in 
a local parish may become a member of such par- 
ish, not deriving funds from the State, by giving 
written notice to its clerk of his intention to do so 



70 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

within one year after he is of age or removes 
thereto. 

Sec. i6. No person shall be a member of a parish 
or religious society without his consent ; and any 
person may dissolve his connection therewith by 
leaving with the clerk a certificate of his intention 
to do so, and his liability for future expenses ceases 
thereby ; but he may be taxed for money previous- 
ly raised, except in case of removal from a local 
parish. 

Sec. 17. No territorial parish is hereby dissolved ; 
and when one or more parishes are set off from a 
town, or incorporated therein, as aforesaid, the re- 
maining part shall be the first parish. 

Sec. 18. No person shall vote in meetings of any 
territorial parish who is not the owner or occupant 
of a pew in its house of worship, nor contributes to 
its support. 

Sec. 19. The wardens of Episcopal Churches, the 
stewards or trustees of Methodist Episcopal Church- 
es, and the deacons of all other Protestant Churches, 
are so far corporations as to take in succession all 
grants and donations of real and personal estate 
made to their churches, or to them and their suc- 
cessors ; and if the ministers, elders, or vestry are 
joined with such church-wardens or deacons in such 
grants and donations, the two classes of officers are 
made corporations for that purpose. 

Sec. 20. The ministers of a parish or religious so- 
ciety, and the deacons, elders, trustees, stewards, 
and other presiding officers of a religious society or 
church, having, by its usages, no settled minister, 



Maine. 7 1 

may take in succession any estate granted to the 
minister and his successors, or for the use of the min- 
istry or poor of the church, and may prosecute and 
defend all suits respecting it ; but they cannot legal- 
ly so take while the clear annual income of prior 
grants is three thousand dollars. 

Sec. 21. No conveyance of such estate by a min- 
ister will be valid longer than he is in the minis- 
try; or by such deacons or other officers longer 
than they are in office, if made by them without 
the consent of the church, or by church-wardens 
without the consent of the vestry. 

Sec. 22. The records of a parish are required to 
be open to the inspection of its members, and to 
clerks of other parishes ; and each clerk must fur- 
nish attested copies of such records, on request, for 
a reasonable compensation. 

Sec. 23. When a parish or religious society law- 
fully raises money by taxation it may appoint its 
treasurer a collector of taxes, who will possess the 
same powers of a tow^n collector ; and such parish 
or religious society may allow a similar discount on 
taxes paid within the time fixed by it at a legal 
meeting, and the treasurer must give like public no- 
tice thereof; and all other taxes must be collected 
by him as town taxes are. When the treasurer and 
collector is qualified, the assessors are required to 
deposit with him a list of the taxes, with the warrant 
for their collection. 

Sec. 24. The overseers of each monthly meeting 
of the Quakers may take and hold in succession all 
grants of real, personal, or mixed estate made to 



72 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

them, to or for the use of their monthly meetings, to 
the preparation meetings constituting them, or to the 
poor thereof : and also all grants of real estate sit- 
uated within the limits of their monthly meetings, and 
donations of personal estate given by persons living 
within said limits, made to or for the use of any quar- 
terly meetings of said Quakers to said overseers for 
their use, or to the poor thereof; and may convey 
and manage such estate according to the terms and 
conditions on which it was given, and may sue in 
their own names for any right that has vested in the 
grantees or donees, though the annual income thereof 
to one meeting for such uses does not exceed five 
thousand dollars. These powers may be enlarged, 
restrained, or repealed by the Legislature. 

MEETING-HOUSES. 

Sec. 25. When it is deemed expedient by any or- 
ganized parish to become the owner of the pews in 
any meeting-house used by it as a place of regular 
worship, a meeting of the owners and occupants there- 
of may be called, as provided in section six, and a 
majority of such pew owners and occupants may vote 
to convey the pews by them owned or occupied to 
such parish. 

Sec 26, Any owner or occupant of a pew in such 
meeting-house who shall express his dissent from 
such vote in writing to the parish clerk within- one 
month from such meeting shall have his pew ap- 
praised as provided in section twenty-nine, and the 
appraised value shall be tendered to him, and he 
shall then deliver a deed of such pew to the parish. 



Maine, 73 

If such dissent is not expressed, said pew shall be 
forever forfeited to the parish. 

Sec. 27. Any persons for the purpose of erecting 
a meeting-house, or a majority in interest of the 
owners of a meeting-house, not a parish, may incor- 
porate themselves the same as parishes may, and 
choose officers, and do all other acts that a parish may 
lawfully do. 

Sec. 28. A majority of the pew owners or pro- 
prietors of a meeting-house, present at a legal meet- 
ing called for that purpose, may repair, remodel, or 
sell and convey their house, or the land used with it, 
or remove or rebuild it. Any meeting relating 
thereto may be called by an application to a justice 
of the peace by such pew owners or proprietors, who 
must issue his warrant to one of them stating the 
time, place, and purpose of the meeting, and direct- 
ing him to notify said pew owners or proprietors, by 
posting up a certified copy of such warrant fourteen 
days on the principal outer door of their house of 
worship, and in one or more public places in the 
same town : or the warrant may be published in a 
newspaper printed in the county at least fourteen 
days before the meeting. 

Sec. 29. Before such alteration or sale is made, 
however, an appraisal of the relative value of the 
pews must be made by three discreet persons under 
oath, to be elected by ballot at a legal meeting of 
said owners or proprietors. If a sale of the house 
and land is made it may be private or public, as said 
meeting determines, and the moneys must be ap- 
plied to pay the expenses of sale, and the debts and 



74 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

just claims against the property, and the balance 
must be paid to the pew owners or proprietors, in 
proportion to their interest, by appraisal. If the 
meeting-house is altered or rebuilt, the appraisers, 
after the work is completed, must assign to the for- 
mer pew holders pews to conform as near as practi- 
cable to those previously held by them : and the 
other pews may be sold to defray the expenses of 
the repairs and alterations, or otherwise disposed of ' 
as the proprietors or pew owners determine. They 
may choose officers, raise and assess taxes on the 
pews, and collect them for the purpose of making 
such repairs and alterations, and do all things that a 
parish can lawfully do, and appoint some suitable 
agent or agents to make such sale and conveyance, 
or repairs and alterations, and a treasurer of trustees 
to receive and distribute the proceeds of sale in man- 
ner aforesaid. 

Sec. 30. When it is decided to repair, remodel, or 
rebuild a meeting-house, any owner *or proprietor 
dissenting from the action of a majority, and declin- 
ing to take any interest in the house as altered, may 
demand and receive of such majority the appraised 
value of his interest, after deducting his proportion of 
debts against the property to be recovered in an ac- 
tion for money had and received, which cannot be 
legally commenced till thirty days after such demand, 
nor after the lapse of a year after notice is posted 
three successive weeks on the meeting-house door, 
and some other conspicuous place in its precincts, 
stating the persons to whom the money is to be paid, 
the amount to each, and the time limited for payment. 



Maine, 75 

If such sums are not demanded within said time, it 
will be forfeited to the majority for parish uses. 

Sec. 31. The owners of a meeting-house or build- 
ing for public worship and the pew owners may be 
incorporated when a majority of them apply to a 
justice of the peace therefor, who must issue his 
warrant to one of them stating the time, place, 
and purpose of the meeting, and directing him to 
notify said owners by posting up a certified copy of 
it fourteen days on the principal outer door of such 
building, and in one or more other pubHc places in the 
same town. 

Sec. 32. When so assembled they may choose a 
moderator and clerk, who must perform the usual 
duties of such officers : and thereupon such owners 
are constituted a corporation, to be known by such 
name as they adopt, and they may agree on the mode 
of calling future meetings. 

Sec. 33. Such corporation, by a majority vote of 
its members, may use and control its meeting-house 
or building for public worship. But the provisions 
of law stated in this and the last preceding sec- 
tion are not to affect the rights of owners of houses 
of worship built by different religious denominations. 

Sec. 34. When there has been no meeting of the 
incorporated owners, or the proprietors or owners, of 
a meeting-house or building for public worship for 
three years, a meeting may be called on application 
of three or more members thereof to a justice of the 
peace, who shall issue his warrant to one of them 
stating the time, place, and purpose of the meeting, 
directing him to notify such meeting by posting 



'j6 Laws Relating to Religions Corporations, 

up a certified copy of said warrant three weeks be- 
fore the time of meeting on the principal outer door 
of such meeting-house or building, and in one or 
more public places in the same town, and publishing 
it in a newspaper published in the county, or in the 
State paper. 

Sec. 35. When a house of public worship is owned 
by persons of different denominations, and when an 
organized society or its members own five pews 
therein, one or more of the minority, owning not less 
than five pews, may apply to a justice of the peace 
and quorum to obtain a division of the time of occu- 
pying the house, and must call a meeting of the 
owners by posting up a notice in a public place in or 
about the meeting-house thirty days at least before 
the meeting, stating the time, place, and object of 
the meeting. 

Sec. 36. At such meeting the owners who are not 
applicants, or, if they refuse or neglect, the justice 
who called the meeting, may designate another jus- 
tice, and the two may appoint the third person, who 
is disinterested, and not an inhabitant of the town in 
which the house is located, or belonging to the de- 
nomination of either party interested ; and the three 
will be a Board, before which the owners may ex- 
hibit the amount they own in the house ; and the 
minority, owning at least five pews, must have their 
part allotted them as nearly as may be in proportion 
to the amount they own in the house, and the Board 
must designate which weeks in each year the minor- 
ity, if they please, may occupy the house ; if they do 
not, the majority may. 



Maine, yy 

Sec. 37. The Board shall appraise the value of the 
minority's proportion of the house, allowing no more 
for a pew than was actually paid for it by the owners, 
make a record of their proceedings, and within ten 
days cause it to be transcribed into the records of 
the town where the house is. 

Sec. 38. All their reasonable expenses must be 
paid by the person or persons who requested the 
division. But the above provisions shall not affect 
any agreement now in force between the parties as 
to the mode of occupying such house. 

Sec. 39. The minority may occupy the house their 
allotted time, unless the majority purchase their in- 
terest by paying the minority the sum at which it 
was appraised by the Board ; but if the minority de- 
cline so to sell, they shall avail themselves of the pro- 
visions of the four preceding sections 

Chapter 124. 
OFFENSES. 

Sec 17. Whoever on the Lord's day, or at any 
other time, behaves rudely or indecently within the 
walls of any house of public worship, willfully inter- 
rupts or disturbs any assembly of persons for relig- 
ious worship within the place of such assembly or 
out of it ; sells or exposes to sale within one mile 
thereof, and during the time of their meeting, any 
intoxicating liquors, refreshments, or merchandise, 
except in his usual course and place of business ; 
exhibits any shows or plays ; engages or aids in any 
horse-race, gaming, or other sports to the disturb- 
ance of such assembly, or, coming within their 



78 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

neighborhood, refuses, on request, either immediate- 
ly and peaceably, to retire beyond their hearing, 
or to conform to the established regulation of the 
meeting, shall be punished by imprisonment not 
more than thirty days, and by fine not exceeding 
ten dollars. 

Sec. i8. On application of the presiding elder, 
preachers in charge, or tent-masters of a camp-meet-, 
ing in any town, the municipal officers thereby shali 
appoint, in writing signed by a majority of them, one 
or more police officers to preserve the peace during 
such meeting, who may arrest any person violating 
any provision of the preceding section, detain him 
till a warrant can be issued, and execute such v/ar- 
rant when directed to them ; and the presiding offi- 
cer or committee of arrangements of any such re- 
ligious assembly or meeting may appoint some 
suitable person to keep boarders and sell refresh- 
ments at such meetings, who shall conform therein 
to such regulations as the officers appointing them 
prescribe. 

Sec. 19. Every justice of the peace, deputy sheriff, 
constable, grand juror, and tithing-man present at any 
such religious assembly disturbed as aforesaid shall 
arrest or cause to be arrested every such offender, 
and detain him until the close of such assembly, or 
until he can be taken before a magistrate ; and all 
persons present at such assembly, on request, shall 
assist said officers in the execution of their duty, 
under the same penalties for neglect or refusal that 
are provided for neglecting or refusing to aid officers 
in other cases. 



Maine, 79 

Sec. 24. Tithing-men or other persons may prose- 
cute for all offenses described in sections seventeen, 
twenty, and twenty-one, at any time within six 
months after the commission thereof, in any compe- 
tent court. 



Chapter XVI. — Maryland. 

Public General Laws, Adopted I860.— Article 26. 

Who may Incorporate — Powers of Trustees — Limitation of In- 
come — Where Elections must be Held, and who may Vote — Qualifi- 
cations of Trustees — Ministers are Voters — How settle Disputes — 
Plans adopted at the first Meeting — Recorded — Powers Defined — 
Division of a Society — Disturbing Religious Meetings. 

Sec 88. In every Christian church, society, or con- 
gregation, of whatever sect, order, or denomination, 
known and acknowledged in the State, and protected 
in the free and full exercise of their reUgion by the 
constitution and laws thereof, there shall be sufficient 
power and authority in all the male persons above 
twenty-one years of age belonging to any such 
church, society, or congregation, to elect, at their 
discretion, certain sober and discreet persons, not 
less than five nor more than thirteen ; which persons, 
so elected, upon being registered as hereinafter di- 
rected, are constituted a body politic or corporate to 
act as trustees in the name and behalf of the partic- 
ular church, society, or congregation for which they 
are respectfully chosen, and to manage the estate, 
property, interest, and inheritance of the same. 

Sec. 89. The trustees so elected shall have per- 
petual succession by their name of incorporation, and 



8o Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

are capable in law to purchase, take, and hold, to 
them and their successors, in fee or for a less estate, 
any lands, tenements, or hereditaments, rents or an- 
nuities, goods or chattels within this State, by the 
gift, bargain, sale, or devise of any person, body poli- 
tic or corporate, capable of making the same, and to 
use or lease, mortgage or sell, and convey the same 
in such manner as they may judge most conducive 
to the interests of their respective churches, socie- 
ties, or corporations ; provided that nothing herein 
shall authorize any sale, mortgages, or other disposi- 
tion of any property held by such corporation under 
any instrument prohibiting such sale, and provided 
the clear yearly value of the estate of any church, 
society, or congregation (exclusive of the rents of 
pews, collections in churches, funeral charges, and the 
like) shall not exceed the clear yearly value of two 
thousand dollars. 

Sec. 90. Every such body politic shall be chosen, 
and the succession kept up, at such times and places 
as are ordinarily used for the public meetings of the 
said church, society, or congregation, and by such 
persons as are allowed to have a voice in the man- 
agement and direction of congregational or tem- 
poral concerns, according to the known custom and 
usage of their respective denominations ; or the said 
body politic or corporate shall be chosen, and the suc- 
cession kept up, according to the rules, regulations, 
and practice that may have been heretofore adopted 
and agreed upon, or that shall be at the first 
time of electing agreed upon and adopted by any 
particular church, society, or congregation, for direct- 



Maryland. 8 1 

ing or managing their congregational or temporal 
affairs. 

Sec. .91. Every trustee or member of any corpo- 
ration aforesaid shall be of the same religious sect or 
denomination with the church, society, or corporation 
by which he is chosen. 

Sec 92. The minister for the time being, or senior 
minister, where there are more than one settled in 
any church, society, or congregation, shall always, in 
virtue of his ministr}^, be a member of the body pol- 
itic or corporate, belonging to the same, exclusive of 
the number heretofore prescribed. 

Sec. 93. If any contest shall arise in any church, 
society, or congregation about the right of voting, or 
whether the election has been fairly conducted, agree- 
ably to the time, intent, and meaning of this article, the 
parties contending shall each of them choose one dis- 
creet and reputable person from among the members 
or trustees of some neighboring congregation or socie- 
ty of the same religious persuasion, if any such there 
be, and if none such, then any other Christian socie- 
ty, which two persons shall choose a third, qualified 
in like manner, and the said three persons shall meet 
at the place where the difference has arisen, and hear 
and determine upon the matter ; and their judgment 
or award, or the judgment of a majority of them, 
certified under their hands and seals, to the contend- 
ing parties shall be final. 

Sec 94. At the first election or appointment of 
every body politic or corporate aforesaid, every 
church, society, or corporation, assembled as already 
directed, shall determine on their plan, agreement, or 



82 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

regulation, specifying distinctly the time and manner 
of electing trustees, and the manner in which the 
succession shall be perpetuated, and containing an 
exact description of the qualifications of the persons 
severally electing and elected, and to elect, and to be 
elected thereafter, and also the name, style, or title 
of the corporation by which it shall thereafter be 
known, and the name of the church, society, or con- 
gregation choosing the same. 

Sec. 95. The said plan, agreement, or regulation 
shall be entered in the book hereinafter directed to 
be kept by every such corporation ; and the same 
shall be acknowledged by the trustees, or a majority 
of them, before, and certified by, two justices of the 
peace of the county in which the said church, congre- 
gation, or society, or the greatest number of them, 
shall reside ; or the same may be acknowledged be- 
fore, and certified by, a judge of the circuit court, 
after being well assured by the said trustees, or a 
majority of them, that the proceedings have been 
legally and duly conducted. 

Sec. 96. The plan or agreement, so acknowledged 
and certified, shall be filed by the said trustees with 
the clerk of the Circuit Court of the county where 
the said church, society, or congregation, or the 
greater part of them, reside, or the clerk of the Su- 
perior Court of Baltimore city if they, or the greater 
part of them, reside in the city of Baltimore within 
six months after such acknowledgments have been 
made, and the same shall be recorded, at the expense 
of the corporation, in a book to be kept for that es- 
pecial purpose. 



Maryland. 83 

Sec. 97. If any change shall be made in the orig- 
inal plan by authority of the congregation, such 
change shall, in the same manner, be made known 
and recorded. 

Sec 98. Every such corporation or body politic, 
their successors, or a majority of them, may appoint 
the times and places of their meeting, and the num- 
ber necessary to constitute a quorum, and shall pro- 
vide and keep a good and sufficient record book, and 
cause to be therein registered all their proceedings, 
subject at all times to the inspection of the several 
members of the church, society, or congregation, 
and the same shall be laid before a public meeting 
when required by any five or more of the same, and 
the said trustees, or a majority of them, shall have 
full power to frame such rules and ordinances for 
conducting their concerns as may be necessary and 
convenient for accomplishing the ends of their insti- 
tution. 

Sec. 99. When any number of persons belonging 
to any church or congregation, sufficient to build a 
church or house of worship and maintain a minister, 
shall choose to separate from the church or congre- 
gation of which they have hitherto been a part, and 
to erect a house of worship, and employ a minister 
for themselves, it shall be lawful for them to do so ; 
and they shall, by their respective name or style, be 
entitled to all the benefits of this article relating to 
their incorporation ; provided only, that all arrearages, 
debts, and engagements contracted, due, or becoming 
due while members of the former society, shall be 
punctually and faithfully discharged. 



84 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

Sec. 100. The person or persons holding lands, or 
goods and chattels, in trust for any particular church 
or Society, shall convey the same to the corporation 
of such particular church or society as soon as the 
same shall be formed under this article. 

Sec. 10 1. Nothing in this article shall prevent the 
Protestant Episcopal Church from incorporating the 
vestries in the several parishes, according to the 
usages of the said church. 

Article 30. 
DISTURBING RELIGIOUS MEETINGS. 

Sec 164. If any person shall erect, place, or have 
any booth, stall, tent, carriage, boat, vessel, or other ve- 
hicle or contrivance whatever, for the purpose or use 
of selling, giving, or otherwise disposing of any kind 
of spirituous or fermented liquors, or any other article 
of traffic, within two miles of any camp-meeting, or 
other place of religious worship, during the time of 
holding any meeting for religious worship at such 
place, such person, upon conviction before a justice 
of the peace, for the first offense shall be fined not 
less than five nor more than twenty dollars, and 
stand committed to jail until the fine and costs are 
paid ; and for the second offense shall be fined as 
aforesaid, and be imprisoned not less than ten nor 
more than thirty days. 

Sec 165. If any person shall commit an offense 
against the provisions of the preceding section he 
shall, in addition to the penalties therein mentioned, 
forfeit all such spirituous or fermented liquors, and 
other articles of traffic, and all the chests and other 



Maryland. 85 

things containing the same belonging to, and in the 
possession of, the person so offending, together with 
such booth, stall, tent, carriage, boat, vessel, vehicle, or 
other contrivance or thing prepared and used in vio- 
lation of said section. And it shall be the duty of 
any sheriff, deputy sheriff, or constable, if he sees 
any person violating the preceding section, to arrest 
the offender and carry him before a justice of the 
peace. The sheriff, deputy sheriff, or constable, 
when he arrests the offender, shall seize the property 
hereby declared to be forfeited, or shall seize the 
same on a warrant against the offender if such of- 
fender cannot be found, and the justice of the peace 
before whom such offender is convicted, or before 
whom the warrant is returned that the offender can- 
not be found, shall enter judgment of condemnation 
against such property, and issue -Bl fieri facias for the 
sale thereof; provided^ that the person who has been 
returned not found, and whose property has been con- 
demned in his absence, may appear at any time before 
the sale of the property and have the case tried, as if 
he had appeared at the return of the warrant. 

Sec. 166. The provisions of the two preceding sec- 
tions shall not apply to any licensed tavern-keeper, 
merchant, shop-keeper, farmer, or other person in the 
usual and lawful transaction of his ordinary business, 
in the usual place of transacting such business, or to 
any person having permission in writing from the 
supervision of such meeting, to sell such articles as 
may be named in such permission. 

Sec. 167. If any person shall disturb any congrega- 
tion, society, or meeting assembled for the purpose of 



86 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

religious worship, by blowing horns or trumpets, firing 
guns, or by any riotous or disorderly conversation, or 
by any other means, with intent to interrupt or dis- 
turb the worship, devotion, or exercises of such con- 
gregation, society, or meeting, or of any of the per- 
sons attending such meeting, he, on conviction 
before any justice of the peace in the county where- 
in such offense shall be committed, shall be fined 
not less than five nor more than twenty dollars, and 
be committed to jail until the fine and costs are 
paid. 

Sec. i68. If any negro shall at any time be found 
lurking about in the neighborhood, within one mile 
of any camp-meeting, selling, bartering, or otherv^ise 
disposing of spirituous liquors, wine, porter, beer, 
cider, or other fermented, mixed, or strong drink, he 
shall, on conviction before a justice of the peace, be 
sentenced by the said justice forthwith to receive on 
his bare back such number of stripes as he shall or- 
der, not less than ten, nor more than thirty-nine. 

Sec. 169. All fines imposed and collected under 
this article for disturbing religious meetings shall be 
paid to the county ; and nothing in this article shall 
prevent the courts of record from exercising their 
common law jurisdiction in all cases for disturbing 
public worship. And the party convicted under any 
of the preceding sections, relating to religious meet- 
ings, shall have the right to appeal to the next cir- 
cuit court for the county where the conviction is had, 
upon giving bail for his appearance at court, and upon 
such appeal shall be entitled to a trial by jury. 



Massachusetts. 87 



Chapter XVII. — Massachusetts. 

General Statutes 1860-66.— Chapter 30. 

Religious Societies to be Corporate — Rights — Societies may Organ- 
ize themselves — Membership — Voters — Organization — Meetings — 
How Warned — Protestant Episcopal Societies — Taxes — Unincorpo- 
rated Societies — Proprietors of Churches — Trustees of Methodist 
Episcopal Church — Copy of Record — Disturbing Religious Worship. 

Sec. I. Every religious society established or or- 
ganized by virtue of any statute shall be a body cor- 
porate, with the powers given to corporations by 
chapter sixty-eight, and the powers, privileges, and 
duties set forth in this chapter ; but this chapter 
shall not enlarge nor diminish the powers of taxation 
enjoyed by any religious society by virtue of a spe- 
cial law or act of incorporation, nor impair existing 
rights of property of any territorial parish. 

Sec. 2. Religious societies, whether incorporate or 
unincorporate, shall continue to have and enjoy their 
existing rights, privileges, and immunities, except so 
far as the same may be limited or modified by the 
provisions of this chapter. 

Sec 3. The respective churches connected and 
associated in public worship with such religious so- 
cieties shall continue to have, exercise, and enjoy all 
their accustomed privilegs and liberties respecting 
divine worship, church order, and discipline, and shall 
be encouraged in the peaceable and regular enjoy- 
ment and practice thereof. 

Sec 4. A religious society that is not incorporate, 
or which may be unable to assemble in the usual 



88 Lazvs Relating to Religious Corporations, 

manner, if it contains ten or more qualified voters, 
may organize and become a corporation, with the 
powers, privileges, duties, liabilities, and requirements 
of such societies, and may hold so much estate, real 
or personal, as may be necessary for the objects of 
such organization, and no more ; but all the powers 
derived from such organization may be revoked by 
the Legislature. 

Sec. 5. Any justice of the peace for the county 
in which such society may be, upon application in 
writing by five or more of the qualified voters there- 
of, may issue his warrant, directed to some one of 
the apphcants, stating the objects, and requiring him 
to warn the qualified voters of the society to meet 
at a time and place appointed in the warrant, and 
the same may be served by posting an attested copy 
thereof on the principal outer door of the meeting- 
house, or leaving such copy with or at the last and 
usual place of abode of such voters, seven days at 
least before such meeting ; and, upon due return 
thereof, the same justice, or any other justice of the 
peace for the county, may preside at the meeting for 
the choice and qualification of a clerk, who shall 
enter at large, upon the records of the society, the 
proceedings had in the organization thereof; and the 
society may thereupon proceed to choose a modera- 
tor, and do such other things as parishes are, by law, 
authorized to do at their annual meetings ; provided^ 
the subject-matter thereof is inserted in the warrant. 

Sec. 6. Persons belonging to a religious society 
shall be held to be members until they file with the 
clerk a written notice declaring the dissolution of 



Massachusetts, 89 

their membership, and they shall not be liable for any 
grant, or contract, thereafter made or entered into 
by such society. No person shall be made a member 
of such society without his consent in writing. 

Sec. 7. Every religious society may make by-laws 
not repugnant to the laws of the commonwealth, 
and therein prescribe the manner in which persons 
may become members. 

Sec. 8. No person shall have a right to vote in the 
affairs of such society unless he is a member thereof. 

Sec 9. The qualified voters of every parish and 
incorporated religious society, and of every society 
organized according to the provisions of this chapter, 
shall hold an annual meeting in the month of March 
or April, or at such other time as they may prescribe 
by their by-laws ; and if the by-laws do not other- 
wise determine, at a time and place appointed by the 
assessors or standing committee ; and at such meet- 
ing shall choose a moderator, clerk, two or more as- 
sessors, a treasurer, and collector, and such other 
officers as they think necessary, all of whom, except 
the moderator, shall continue in ofifice till the next 
annual meeting, and till others are chosen and quali- 
fied in their stead. 

Sec. 10. Moderators of meetings held for the choice 
of officers shall be elected by written ballots. Clerks, 
assessors, treasurers, and collectors shall be elected 
by written ballot, and shall be sworn. Other officers 
may be elected in such mode as the society may de- 
termine. 

Sec II. The prudential affairs of such societies 
shall be managed by their assessors, or a standing 



90 Laws Relatmg to Religious Corporations. 

committee specially appointed for that purpose ; and 
the assessors or committees shall have like authority 
for calling meetings, as selectmen have for calling 
town meetings. 

Sec. 12. If there are no assessors or committee, 
or if they unreasonably refuse to call a meeting, any 
justice of the peace for the county, upon the applica- 
tion of not less than five qualified voters, may call 
one, in the manner provided in section five. 

Sec. 13. The as sessorsor committee shall insert 
in the next warrant they issue for calling a meeting 
any matter which not less than five qualified voters 
of the society in writing request. Nothing acted 
upon shall have any legal operation, unless the 
subject-matter thereof was inserted in the warrant. 

Sec. 14. Meeting shall be warned in the manner 
provided by any by-law or vote of the society, and 
when no provision is made, in such manner as the 
assessors and standing committee in their warrant for 
such meeting direct. 

Sec 15. The clerk, or if there is no clerk, or he is 
absent, the assessors, or the standing committee, or 
any one of them, shall preside in the choice of a 
moderator ; and a clerk may then be chosen either 
pro tempore^ or to fill the vacancy, as the case may 
require. The moderator may administer the oath of 
office to the clerk, and the clerk to the assessor and 
collector ; or said oath may be administered by a 
justice of the peace ; and it shall be substantially 
the same as is required to be taken by the clerk, 
assessors, and collectors of towns. 

Sec 16. The moderator shall have the same 



Massadmsetts. 91 

power as the moderator of a town meeting ; and 
persons guilty of disorderly behavior at a meeting 
shall be subject to the penalties and punishments 
provided for like offenses in town meetings. 

Sec. 17. If the person chosen collector is present 
and accepts the office, he shall forthwith be sworn. If 
not present, he shall be summoned to take the oath 
by a constable, or any person whom the clerk or as- 
sessors may appoint for the purpose. Upon the re- 
fusal or neglect of a person present to accept the 
office at the time, and upon the neglect of a person 
so summoned, for the space of seven days, to appear 
and take the oath, the society shall proceed to a 
new choice ; and so from time to time, until some 
person accepts and is sworn. 

Sec. 18. Vacancies in any of the annual offices, 
occurring after the annual meeting, may be filled at 
any other legal meeting. 

Sec. 1 9. The rector, or one of the wardens of religious 
societies belonging to the body of Christians known 
as the Protestant Episcopal Church, organized under 
thelaws of the commonwealth, may, unless it is other- 
wise provided in some by-law, preside at their meet- 
ings with all the power of a moderator ; and the ward- 
ens, or the warden and vestry, may exercise all the 
power of a standing committee, in accordance with 
the usage and discipline of said Church. Unless 
they assess or colled a tax on the polls, estates, or 
pews of the members thereof, such societies need 
not choose a collector or assessor ; and they may in 
their by-laws provide that the duties of assessors 
shall be performed by the wardens. But the officers 



92 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

upon whom the duties of standing committee or 
assessors may devolve, shall in all cases be elected 
by ballot. 

Sec. 20. The qualified voters of each religious so- 
ciety at the annual meeting, or at any other meeting 
regularly notified seven days at least before the hold- 
ing thereof, may grant and vote such sums of money 
as they judge necessary for the settlement, main- 
tenance, and support of ministers or public teachers 
of religion ; for the building or repairing of houses of 
public worship ; for sacred music, for the purchase 
and preservation of burial-grounds, and for all other 
necessary parish charges ; which sums shall be as- 
sessed on the polls and estates of all the members 
of the society, in the same manner and proportion as 
town taxes are by law assessed. 

Sec. 21. The assessors shall assess the taxes upon 
the property (not exempted by law from taxation) of 
all the members of the society, including their real 
estate within the State, in whatever part thereof it 
may be situated, and their personal estate, wherever 
the same may be ; and no citizen shall be liable to 
pay a tax for the support of public worship, or other 
parish charges, to a society other than that of which 
he is a member. 

Sec. 22. No corporation shall be taxed for any 
parochial purpose. Nor shall any person be taxed 
in a parish or religious society for property held by 
him as guardian or trustee. 

Sec 23. Every society may appoint its treasurer 
collector of taxes, who shall have like powers, and 
proceed in like manner, in enforcing the collection of 



Massachusetts. 93 

such taxes after the expiration of the time fixed by 
the society for the payments thereof as provided in 
chapter twelve for the collection of taxes by collectors 
of towns ; and any society may authorize its treas- 
urer and collector to make an abatement of such sum 
as it may agree upon, at its annual meeting, to those 
who make voluntary payment of their taxes within 
such periods as may be determined by the society. 

Sec. 24. Unincorporated religious societies shall 
have like power to manage, use, and employ any do- 
nation, gift, or grant made to them according to its 
terms and conditions, as incorporated societies have 
by law ; may elect suitable trustees, agents, or officers 
therefor, and sue for any right which may vest in 
them in consequence of such donation, gift, or grant ; 
for which purposes they shall be corporations. 

Sec. 25.* Incorporated and unincorporated relig- 
ious societies may appoint trustees, not exceeding 
five in number, to hold and manage trust funds for 
their benefit, who shall hold their offices three years, 
and until others are appointed in their stead ; and in 
case of a vacancy, by death or otherwise, the parish 
may fill such vacancy at its next annual meeting, or 
at a special meeting called for that purpose. Such 
societies, at or before the time of the first appoint- 
ment of the trustees, may establish rules and regula- 
tions for their government, which shall be considered 
as of the nature of a contract, and not subject to al- 
teration or amendment, except by all the trustees in 
office at the time, and by a two-thirds vote of the 
society interested therein. 

* As amended in 1S69. 



94 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

Sec. 26, The terms "religious society" and "so- 
ciety " in the preceding sections shall include par- 
ishes. 

Sec. 27. Persons owning, or proposing to build, a 
house of public worship, may organize themselves in 
the same manner as religious societies are authorized 
to do by the provisions of this chapter, and shall 
thereupon become a corporation, with the powers, 
privileges, duties, restrictions, and liabilities set forth 
in chapter sixty-eight and in the following sections; 
but all the powers derived from such organization 
may be revoked by the Legislature. 

Sec 28. Every such corporation may hold so 
much real and personal estate, in addition to its 
meeting-house, as may be necessary for its objects, 
and has been agreed and determined on at the meet- 
ing held for the purpose of organization, and the an- 
nual income thereof shall be applied to parochial 
purposes. 

Sec 29. The clerk of every such corporation shall, 
within ten days of such meeting, leave with the clerk 
of the town or city in which such house of worship 
is situated, or is about to be built, a true copy of the 
record of the proceedings. If he fails to do so, the 
organization shall be void. The copy shall be re- 
corded by the clerk receiving it in a book kept for 
the purpose, for which he shall receive the fee of the 
register of deeds for like services. 

Sec 30. When the proprietors deem it expedient 
to alter, enlarge, repair, rebuild, or remove their 
house, or build a new one, they may, at a legal meet- 
ing called for that purpose, raise such sums of money 



Massachusetts. 95 

as they may judge necessary for the purpose, and to 
purchase land necessary therefor. 

Sec. 31. a meeting of the proprietors, for any of 
the purposes aforesaid may be called in the manner 
prescribed in the by-laws, or votes of the corpora- 
tion, or by a warrant granted by a justice of the 
peace on application in writing by any five of said 
proprietors, which warrant shall be directed to one 
of the applicants ; or such meeting may be called by 
a notification by the clerk of the proprietors, who 
shall warn a meeting on a like application to him, 
and, in either case, the meeting may be warned by 
notification served as provided in section five. 

Sec. 32. Money raised may be assessed on the 
pews in such house, and the assessment may be com- 
mitted to the treasurer of the proprietors, who shall 
forthwith give notice by posting up an advertisement 
at the principal outer door of the house stating the 
completion of such assessment, and the day of the 
delivery thereof to him ; and if any part of the said 
taxes remains unpaid for three months afterward, the 
treasurer shall collect the same forthwith by sales at 
public auction of the pews whereon the same re- 
mains unpaid, in the manner provided in the follow- 
ing sections. 

Sec. 33. The treasurer shall post up a notification 
of the intended sale of a pew for taxes at the princi- 
pal outer door of such house at least three weeks 
before the time of sale, setting forth the number of 
the pew, if any, the name of the owner or occupant, 
if known, and the amount of the tax due thereon ; 
and if any part of said tax remains unpaid at the 



96 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

time, the treasurer shall sell the pew at public auc- 
tion to the highest bidder, and shall execute and 
deliver to the purchaser a sufficient deed of convey- 
ance. The money arising from the sale, beyond the 
charges and incidental reasonable charges, shall be 
paid by the treasurer to the former owner of the pew, 
or to his assigns. 

Sec. 34. An affidavit annexed to an original notifi- 
cation, or to a copy thereof, made before a justice of 
the peace, and recorded on the proprietors' records 
within six months next after such sale, shall be al- 
lowed as one mode of proof of the posting up of the 
notification hereinbefore required. 

Sec. 35. Such proprietors, for the purpose of build- 
ing a new house, or of altering, enlarging, repairing, 
rebuilding, or removing their house already built, may 
sell their house or take down any pews therein, the 
pews taken being first appraised by three or more 
disinterested persons chosen by the proprietors for 
that purpose. The pews newly rented shall be sold 
by the treasurer at public auction to the highest bid- 
der, and deeds thereof given in like manner as when 
pews are sold for the payment of taxes. The money 
arising from such sale shall be applied, so far as may 
be necessary, to paying the appraised value of the 
pews taken down, and the deficiency, if any, shall be 
paid by the proprietors of such house within thirty 
days after sale. 

Sec 36. Under the regulations of the preceding 
section, a parish, or religious society, whenever it 
deems it necessary, for the purpose of building a 
new house, or of altering, enlarging, removing, or 



Massachusetts. 97 

rebuilding its house already built, may take down, 
any pews therein or sell the house. 

Sec. 37. Nothing contained in the two preceding 
sections shall entitle a person to compensation for a 
pew so taken down, when such house is unfit for the 
purposes of public worship. 

Sec 38. Pews shall be personal estate. But this 
provision shall not affect any existing right of 
dower. 

Sec. 39. Corporations for religious purposes may 
assess upon the pews in a church or meeting-house 
which they have erected or procured for public wor- 
ship since the twenty-fifth of March, 1845, according 
to a valuation of said pews which shall first be agreed 
upon, and recorded by the clerk, sums of money for 
the support of public worship and other parochial 
charges, and for the repairs of the house. Such as- 
sessments may be collected in the manner provided 
in sections thirty-two and thirty-three. 

Sec 40. A corporation which had erected or pro- 
cured such house prior to the twenty-fifth day of 
March, 1845, may avail itself of the provisions of the 
preceding section if the consent of all the pew own- 
ers is obtained, or two thirds of the members present 
and voting, at a regular meieting called for that pur- 
pose, so determine. 

Sec 41. A religious society which votes to avail 
itself of the provisions of section thirty nine shall, 
upon the application of a person owning one or more 
pews in the house, within one year after said vote, 
purchase the same at the appraised value. Such ap- 
praisal shall be made by three disinterested persons. 



98 Laws RelattJtg to Religious Corporations. 

who may be chosen, one by the pew owner, one by 
the society, and the third by the two persons thus 
chosen. 

Sec. 42. Any reUgious society complying with the 
requisitions of the two preceding sections shall be 
entitled to the privileges and subject to the liabili- 
ties incident to those religious societies which have 
erected or procured a meeting-house for public wor- 
ship since the 25th day of March, 1845. 

Sec. 43. The trustees of any society of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, or of the African Methodist 
Episcopal Church, appointed according to the Disci- 
pline or usages thereof respectively, or as such soci- 
ety chooses, may organize and become a corporation, 
with powers, privileges, duties, and liabilities of chap- 
ter sixty-eight, subject, however, to account to the 
quarterly meeting of such society, according to such 
discipline and usages. But all powers derived from 
such organization may be revoked by the Legisla- 
ture. 

Sec 44. Such trustees may receive, hold, and 
manage all the property, both real and personal, 
belonging to such society, and sell and convey the 
same, and hold in trust gifts, grants, bequests, or 
donations, made to such society for the support of 
public worship, and other religious purposes ; pro- 
videdy that the annual income thereof, exclusive of 
the meeting-house, shall not exceed four thousand 
dollars. 

Sec. 45. The first meeting of such trustees may 
be called by a justice of the peace upon the applica- 
tion of three or more trustees, at which they may 



Massachusetts. 99 

choose a secretary, and other officers. The provis- 
ions of this chapter, in relation to the warning and 
organization of meeting of religious societies, shall, so 
far as the same are applicable, be in force in regard 
to meetings for the organization of such trustees. 
The secretary, before entering upon the duties of his 
office, shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of the 
same, and a record of such oath shall be kept in the 
records of their proceedings. 

Sec. 46. An attested copy of the record of the 
proceedings at such organization shall be left with 
the town or city clerk, and recorded within the time, 
and in the manner, prescribed in section twenty-nine. 
If the secretary omits to leave such copy within the 
time specified the organization shall be void. 

Chapter 31. 

OF DONATIONS AND CONVEYANCES FOR PIOUS AND CHAR- 
ITABLE USES. 

Sec. I. The deacons, church-wardens, or other 
similar officers of all churches or religious societies, 
if citizens of this commonwealth, shall be deemed 
bodies corporate for the purpose of taking and hold- 
ing in succession all grants and donations, whether 
of real or personal estate, made either to them and 
their successors, or to their respective churches, or 
to the poor of their churches. 

Sec. 2. When the ministers, elders, or vestry of a 
church are, in the grants or donations mentioned in 
the preceding section, joined with such deacons or 
church-wardens as donors or grantees, such officers 
and their successors, together with the deacons or 



100 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

church-wardens, shall be deemed the corporation for 
the purposes of such grants and donations. 

Sec. 3. The minister of every church or religious 
society of whatever denomination, if a citizen of this 
commonwealth, shall be capable of taking in succes- 
sion any parsonage land granted to the minister and 
his successors, or to the use of the ministers, or 
granted by any words of like import, and may 
prosecute and defend in all actions touching the 
same. 

Sec. 4. No conveyance of the lands of a church 
shall be effectual to pass the same if made by the 
deacops, without the consent of the church, or of a 
committee of the church appointed for that purpose, 
or if made by the church-wardens without the con- 
sent of the vestry. 

Sec 5. No conveyance by a minister of lands 
held by him in succession shall be valid any longer 
than he continues to be such minister, unless such 
conveyance is made with the consent of the town, 
parish, or religious society of which he is a minister, 
or unless he is the minister of an Episcopal Church, 
and makes the conveyance with the consent of the 
vestry. 

Sec. 6. The several churches other than those of 
the Episcopal denomination may choose committees 
for the purpose of settling the accounts of the deacons 
and other church officers, and if necessary, to com- 
mence and prosecute suits in the name of the 
church against the deacons, or other officers touch- 
ing the same. 

Sec 7. The income of- such grant or donation 



Massachusetts. loi 

made to or for the use of a church shall not exceed 
the sum of two thousand dollars a year, exclusive 
of the income of any parsonage lands granted to or 
for the use of the ministry. 

Sec. 8. The overseers of each monthly meeting 
of the people called Friends or Quakers shall be a 
body corporate, for the purpose of taking and holding 
in succession grants and donations of real or personal 
estate made to the use of such meeting, or to the 
use of any preparation meeting belonging thereto ; 
and may alien or manage such estate according to the 
terms and conditions of the grants and donations, and 
prosecute and defend in any action touching the 
same : providedy that the incomiC of the grants and 
donations to any one of such meetings for the uses 
aforesaid shall not exceed the sum of five thousand 
dollars a year. 

Sec. 9. All trustees, whether incorporated or not, 
who hold funds given or bequeathed to a city or town 
for any charitable, religious, or educational purpose, 
shall make an annual exhibit of the condition of such 
funds to the Board of Aldermen of the city, or the 
selectmen of the town, to which such funds have been 
given or bequeathed, and all transactions by the trust- 
ees concerning such fund sshall be open to inspec- 
tion by the Board of Aldermen of the city, or se- 
lectmen of the town, to which the returns are made. 
Sec. 10. The probate court for the county in 
which the city or town is situated, to which funds 
have been given or bequeathed as aforesaid, may, on 
the petition of five persons, cite all parties interested 
to appear before the court, to answer all complaints 



I02 Lazvs Relating to Religious Corporations. 

which may then and there be made ; and if a trustee 
has neglected or refused to render such annual 
exhibits, or is incapable of discharging the trust re- 
posed, or unsuitable to manage the affairs of the same, 
the court may remove such trustees and supply the 
vacancy. 

Chapter 32. 

OF ASSOCIATIONS FOR RELIGIOUS, CHARITABLE, AND ED- 
UCATIONAL PURPOSES. 

Sec I. Seven or more persons within this State 
having associated themselves, by agreement in writ- 
ing, for educational, charitable, or religious purposes, 
under any name by them assumed, and complying 
with the provisions of this chapter, with their suc- 
cessors, shall be and remain a body politic and cor- 
porate. 

Sec 2. The purpose of such corporation, and the 
place within v/hich it is established or located, shall 
be distinctly specified in its articles of association ; 
which articles and all amendments thereto shall be 
recorded in the office of the register of deeds for the 
county or district wherein such place is situated, and 
such corporation shall appropriate its funds to no 
other purpose. 

Sec 3. Corporations organized under this chapter 
shall have the powers and privileges, and be subject 
to the duties, liabilities, and restrictions, set forth in 
chapter sixty-eight, so far as the same may be appli- 
cable. 

Sec 4. Such corporations may hold real and person- 
al estate, necessary for the purpose of their organiza- 



Massachusetts, 103 

tion, to an amount not exceeding one hundred thou- 
sand dollars. 

Sec. 5. This estate shall not be exempted from 
taxation in any case where part of the income or 
profits of their business is divided among members 
or stockholders, or where any portion of such estate is 
used or appropriated for any other than educational, 
charitable, *br religious purposes. 

LAWS OF 1869. 

Sec. I. Any parish or religious society may ad- 
mit to membership women, who shall have all the 
rights and privileges of men. 

Sec. 2. Any territorial parish may admit to mem- 
bership persons not residents of its territory. 

Chapter 165. 
DISTURBING RELIGIOUS WORSHIP. 

Sec 21. Whoever willfully interrupts or disturbs 
any assembly of people met for the worship of God 
shall be punished by imprisonment in the jail not 
exceeding thirty days, or by fine not exceeding fifty 
dollars. 

Sec 22. Whoever, during the time of holding any 
camp or field meeting for religious purposes, and 
within one mile of the place of holding such meet- 
ing, hawks or peddles goods, wares, merchandise, or, 
without permission from the authorities having charge 
of such meeting, establishes any tent or booth for 
vending provisions or refreshments or practices, or 
engages in gaming or horse-racing, or exhibits, or 



104 Laws Relating to Religions Corporations. 

offers to exhibit, shows or plays, shall forfeit for each 
offense a sum not exceeding twenty dollars ; provided, 
that a person having his regular and usual place of 
business within such limits is not hereby required to 
suspend his business. 



Chapter X V I I I. — M i c h i ^'an. 

Eevised Statutes of 1S71.— Chapter 108. 

Organization — Minister may Preside — Notice of Election — Certifi- 
cate — Rights and Powers of Trustees — Meetings — How called — 
Voters — Order of Sale — Protestant Episcopal Church — Presbyterian 
Churches — Roman Catholic Churches — Offenses. 

Sec. I. The People of the State of Michigan enact. 
That chapter fifty-two of the Revised Statutes of 
eighteen hundred and forty-six, entitled, " Of Relig- 
ious Societies," be and the same is hereby repealed, 
saving all rights which may have occurred under the 
same, subject to the modifications provided in this act. 

Sec. 2. It shall be lawful for any number of per- 
sons of full age, not less than five, who may be de- 
sirous of forming themselves into a church, congre- 
gation, or religious society, to sign articles of asso- 
ciation for that purpose, and assemble together at 
such place as they may select, and by plurality of 
votes elect any number of discreet persons being 
laymen, not less than three nor more than nine in 
number, as trustees to take charge of the property 
belonging to, and transact all the affairs relative to 
the temporalities of such church, congregation, or re- 
ligious society. 

Sec. 3. It shall be lawful for any such church, con- 



Michigan. 105 

gregation, or religious society to choose their minis- 
ter, priest, curate, rector, parson, or officiating clergy- 
man, for the time being, to be the president of their 
corporation, and of their meetings, by a plurality of 
votes by ballot ; and at the first election of trustees 
every person who shall have signed their articles of 
association, and at any subsequent elections, every 
person of full age who has for six months been a 
stated worshiper with, or contributor regularly for 
one year previous to the support of such church, con- 
gregation, or society, will be entitled to vote. 

Sec. 4. The minister, priest, curate, parson, or 
officiating clergyman of such congregation or socie- 
ty, or if none of them be present, one of the elders 
or deacons, church-wardens or vestry-men thereof, 
and, for want of such officers, any other person being 
a member or stated hearer in such church, congrega- 
tion, or society, must publicly notify such congrega- 
tion of the time when, and the place where, any 
election shall he held, at least fifteen days before the 
day of such election, and such notification must be 
given for two successive Sabbaths on which such 
church, congregation, or society statedly meet for 
public worship next preceding the election. 

Sec. 5. Any two of the elders, deacons, church- 
wardens, or vestry-men of such church, congregation, 
or society, or if such officers be not present, then 
any two voters present, to be nominated by a majori- 
ty of voters, will act as inspectors of the election, re- 
ceive the votes, and determine the qualification of 
voters ; and they are required immediately after the 
election to certify, under their hands and seals, the 



io6 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

names of the persons elected to serve as trustees or 
vestry-men, in which certificate the name by which 
the said trustee or vestry-men, and their successors in 
office, shall forever thereafter be known and called, 
must be particularly mentioned and specified, and 
such trustees in said certificate be denominated ves- 
try-men, or church-wardens and vestry-men, executive 
committee, or any other name stated in the certifi- 
cate ; provided always^ That they shall have all the 
power specified in this act, and be elected in the 
manner provided for in this act. 

Sec. 6. Such certificate must be acknowledged by 
the persons making the same, or proved by a sub- 
scribing witness thereto before some officers author- 
ized to take acknowledgment of deeds and records, 
and recorded, together with the certificate of such 
acknowledgment or proof, by the clerk of the county 
within which the church or place of worship of such 
congregation shall be situated, who is entitled to a 
fee of seventy- five cents for such recording; and 
thereafter it is declared that such trustees and their 
successors shall be a body corporate by the name 
expressed in such certificate. 

Sec. 7. Such trustees may have a common seal, 
and may alter the same at pleasure ; and they may 
take into their possession and custody all the tempo- 
ralities of such church, congregation, or society, 
whether the same shall consist of real cr personal 
estate, and whether the same may have been given^ 
granted, or devised, directly or indirectly, to such 
church, congregation, or society, or to any other per- 
son for theu' use. 



Michigan. 107 

Sec. 8. Such trustees may also, in their corporate 
name, sue and be sued in all courts and places, and 
they may recover and hold all the debts, demands, 
rights, and privileges, all churches, buildings, bury- 
ing-places, and all the estate and appurtenances be- 
longing to such church, congregation, or society, in 
whatsoever manner the same may have been ac- 
quired, or in whose hands soever the same may be 
held, as fully and amply as if the right and title 
thereto had been originally vested in said trustees ; 
and they may hold moneys or personal estate, raised 
or acquired for the purpose of erecting churches or 
houses of residence for their minister or priest, or 
for the purchase of burial-ground, for a period not 
exceeding one year before the investment thereof, 
and not exceeding the value or amount of twenty 
thousand dollars ; and they may hold, for a period 
not exceeding three years, any land which may be 
lawfully conveyed to them, not exceeding five thou- 
sand dollars in value, to be sold for the purpose of 
raising a fund for erecting, repairing, or improving a 
church or churches, or other building aforesaid, or 
for the purchase or improvement of any cemetery or 
burial-ground. But all such lands shall revert to the 
donor or grantor, his or her heirs or assigns, if not 
disposed of within the time aforesaid. 

Sec. 9. The said trustees or wardens and vestry- 
men shall also have authority, under the direction of 
the society, to sell and convey, mortgage or release 
[lease], any real estate belonging to such society, or 
held by them as trustees, or wardens and vestrymen, 
and to erect churches and meetino^-houses and dwell- 



io8 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

ing houses for their ministers or priests, and other 
buildings for the direct and legitimate use of their 
church, congregation, or society, and to alter and 
repair the same, but for no secular purpose ; provid- 
ed, that no such sale or conveyance shall be made 
in any case where it would be inconsistent with the 
express terms or plain intent of the grant, donation, 
conveyance, or devise by which the same was con- 
veyed or devised to or for the use of such church, 
congregation, or society ; nor unless the vote or as- 
sent of at least two thirds of those present and enti- 
tled to vote, at any meeting of the society duly and 
specially called for that purpose, shall be obtained 
therefor. 

Sec. 10. They shall also have authority to make 
rules and orders for managing the temporal affairs of 
such church, congregation, or society, and to dispose 
of all moneys belonging thereto, and to order and 
regulate the renting of pews or slips in their meet- 
ing-houses and churches, and the perquisites for the 
breaking of the ground and burial of the dead in the 
cemetery or church-yard, and in the said churches or 
meeting-houses. 

Sec. 1 1. They may appoint a clerk and a treasurer 
of their board, and a collector to collect their rents 
and revenues, and may regulate the fees to be al- 
lowed such clerk, treasurer, and collector, and may 
remove them and appoint others in their stead at 
pleasure ; and such clerk shall enter all rules and 
orders made by such trustees, and payments ordered 
by them, in a book to be procured by them for that 
purpose. 



Michigan. 109 

Sec. 12. Any two of the trustees may at any time 
call a meeting of the trustees, and a majority of them 
being lawfully convened, shall be competent to do 
and perform all matters and things which such trust- 
ees are authorized to do and perform ; and said trust- 
ees may elect their minister, priest, curate, rector, 
parson, or officiating clergyman of said society, for 
the time being, to preside at such meetings, who 
shall have no vote except in case of a tie of the 
board, when he shall have a casting vote. 

Sec 13. The trustees shall hold their offices for 
three years, and immediately after their first election, 
as hereinbefore provided, the said trustees shall be 
divided by lot into three classes, numbered one, two, 
and three ; and the seats of the first class shall be 
vacated at the end of the first year, of the second 
class at the end of the second year, and of the third 
class at the end of the third year, to the end that as 
near as may be one third part of the whole number 
of the trustees may be annually chosen ; provided, 
however^ that any persons entering into articles of 
association, as aforesaid, may provide in said articles 
for the election of the whole board of trustees once 
in each year, at such time as they may appoint, in 
the manner above described, and said whole number 
may be elected in conformity to such provisions. 

Sec 14. It shall be the duty of the clerk of said 
trustees, at least one month before the expiration of 
the office of any of said trustees, to notify the same, 
in writing, to the minister, priest, curate, rector, par- 
son, or officiating clergyman, or, in case of his death 

or absence, to the elders or church-wardens ; or if 
9 



no Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

there be no elders or church-wardens, then to the 
deacons or vestry-men of any such church, congre- 
gation, or society, specifying in such notice the 
names of the trustees whose office will expire ; and 
the minister, priest, curate, rector, parson, or other 
officer receiving such notice, shall, in manner afore- 
said, notify the members of such church, congrega- 
tion, or society of such vacancies, and appoint the 
time and place for the election to supply the same. 

Sec. 15. Such election shall be held at least six 
days before vacancies shall occur, as aforesaid ; and 
all such subsequent elections shall be held and con- 
ducted by the like persons, and in the same m.anner 
as hereinbefore provided for the first election ; and 
in case any vacancy shall occur by the death of a 
trustee, his refusal to act, or removal from the so- 
ciety before his term of office expires, or otherwise, 
notice thereof shall be given, as aforesaid, and an 
election shall be held, and another trustee chosen in 
his stead for the remainder of his term. 

Sec. 16. No person belonging to any such Church, 
congregation, or society, incorporated under the pro- 
visions of this act, shall be entitled to vote at any 
election after the first, until he shall have been an at- 
tendant on public worship in such church, congrega- 
tion, or society, at least six months next before such 
election, and shall have contributed to the support of 
such church, congregation, or society, according to 
the usages and customs thereof 

Sec 17. The clerk of the trustees shall keep a 
register of the names of all such persons as shall de- 
sire to become stated hearers in the said church, 



Michigan. ill 

congregation, or society, and shall note therein the 
time when such request was made ; and the said 
clerk shall attend all subsequent elections in order to 
test the qualifications of such voters in case they 
shall be questioned. 

Sec. 1 8. Nothing in this act shall be construed to 
give such trustees the power to fix or ascertain the 
salary or compensation to be paid any minister, or 
priest, curate, rector, or parson, but the same shall 
be ascertained and fixed by a majority of such society 
entitled to vote at the election of trustees. 

Sec. 19. It shall be lawful for the Circuit Court for 
the county in which such religious corporation shall 
have been constituted, on the application of such cor- 
poration, if such court shall deem it proper, to make 
an order for the sale of any real estate belonging to 
such corporation, and to direct the application of the 
moneys arising therefrom to such uses as the said 
corporation, with the approbation of said court, shall 
conceive to be for the interest of such corporation ; 
provided^ that no sale shall be authorized by the court 
in any case where it would be inconsistent with the 
express terms or plain intent of the grant, donation, 
conveyance, or devise by which the same was con- 
veyed or devised to or for the use of such church, con- 
gregation, or society, prior to the passage of this act. 

Sec. 20. At least thirty days' previous notice of 
any such application to the Circuit Court shall be 
given by publishing the same in some newspaper 
published in the county, if one be there published, if 
not, by posting up notices in three or more public 
places in such county. 



112 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

Sec. 21. All lands, tenements, and hereditaments 
that have been or may hereafter be lawfully conveyed 
by devise, gift, grant, purchase, or otherwise to any 
persons as trustees in trust, for the use of any church, 
congregation, or religious society organized, or which 
may be hereafter organized, within this State, either 
for a meeting-house, burial-ground, or for the resi- 
dence of a preacher or priest, shall vest and descend, 
with the improvements, in perpetual succession to,' 
and shall be held by the trustees provided for by this 
act, in trust for such church, congregation, or society. 

Sec 22. No bishop, vicar, rector, parson, curate, 
priest, deacon, or other officer of any church, relig- 
ious body, order, society, or association ; no superior 
officer or member, male or female, of any religious 
order, ecclesiastical or lay, nor of any ecclesiastical, 
educational, or charitable institution or establish- 
ment, shall, in consequence of such office or mem- 
bership, or in the character or capacity of such officer 
or member, have, possess, or exercise any power, ca- 
pacity or franchise of a corporation sole, so far as re- 
lates to the taking, holding, managing, selling, or 
transmitting property ; and every gift, grant, de- 
vise, bequest, conveyance, or lease of any real es- 
tate, or interest therein, or any use or benefit to 
arise therefrom, or of money, or of other property 
to be invested therein, or to arise therefrom here- 
after made, or attempted to be made, by deed, 
will, or otherwise, to any such officer or member, by 
his or her name of office or membership, or in the 
character of such officer or member, shall be utterly 
void to all intents and purposes ; and no corporation 



Michigan. 113 

for religious, ecclesiastical, educational, or charitable 
purposes, shall be recognized as existing by the com- 
mon law, the canon law, or by prescription, or in any 
other manner, except by express statute of this State ; 
provided, that this section shall in no way invalidate 
any right of property, or right of action heretofore 
vested ; arid provided furthery that this section is not 
intended as any implication or admission of any previ- 
ous corporate capacity incident to such official char- 
acter or membership as herein above mentioned. 

Sec. 23. Neither the canon law nor the decrees, 
nor any decree or order of any ecclesiastical council 
or body, nor any custom or usage founded thereon, 
nor any custom or usage of any church, congregation, 
or religious society, or religious order, shall hereafter 
be recognized or enforced in this State, so far as such 
law, usage, or custom shall relate to the acquisition, 
the tenure, or the control or disposition of any real 
estate, or any interest therein, or any use or trust con- 
nected or to be connected therewith ; provided, never- 
theless, that this section shall not in any manner impair 
or invalidate any grant, devise, or other conveyance 
heretofore made, nor shall this section be construed 
as a recognition of the prior legaHty or obligation of 
such law, usage, or custom in this State. 
[Secs. 24 and 25 were repealed in 1867.] 
Sec. 26. No grant, conveyance, devise, or lease of 
any real estate, dedicated or appropriated to the pur- 
poses of religious worship, or for any religious or 
ecclesiastical purposes, or appearing to be intended 
to be managed or controlled by any congregation or 
society, or any officer or officers thereof, in his or 



114 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

their official capacity, shall hereafter vest any right, 
title, or interest in any person or persons to whom 
such grant, conveyance, devise, or lease may be 
made, unless the same shall be made to a corpora- 
tion organized under some statute of this State, or 
of the late territory of Michigan, or under the pro- 
visions of this act or some act heretofore passed, 
amending or altering the same. 

Sec. 27. Every church, congregation, or religious 
society heretofore incorporated in pursuance of any 
statute of this State, or of the late territory of Mich- 
igan, and not since dissolved, shall be and is hereby 
established and confirmed, subject, nevertheless, to 
the provisions of this act, so far as they may be 
constitutionally subjected thereto, without impairing 
rights heretofore legally vested. And all vacancies 
which may hereafter occur in the office of trustee of 
any church or religious society heretofore incorpo- 
rated under any statute of this State or of the late 
territory of Michigan, shall be filled by an election as 
provided for the filling of vacancies in such office 
under this act ; and in case of the dissolution of any 
corporation, or of any corporation hereafter to be 
formed in pursuance of the provisions of this act^ 
for any cause whatever, the same may be incorpo- 
rated under the provisions of this at any time within 
six years after such dissolution, and thereupon all the 
estate, real and personal, formerly belonging to the 
same, and not lawfully disposed of, shall vest in such 
corporation, as if there had been no dissolution. 

Sec. 28. The provisions of this chapter shall ap- 
ply to all churches, religious congregations, religious 



Michigan. 115 

societies, religious and ecclesiastical orders, and every 
association of persons for religious purposes. 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES. 

Sec I. The People of the State of Michigan enact, 
That whenever any church, tlie government of which 
by its constitution and usages is vested in ruling 
elders, shall desire to have and possess corporate 
powers and privileges, the session or consistory of 
such church may execute and acknowledge before 
any officer authorized to take acknowledgment of 
deeds a certificate which shall contain — 

First, The name of the proposed corporation. 

Second, The township or city and county in which 
it is located. 

Third, The election of such church whether the 
corporate power shall be vested in the ruling elders 
and deacons thereof, or in the deacons alone, and 
whether the pastor of such church shall or shall not 
be a member of such corporation. 

Fourth, The election of such church whether the 
acts of the officers named in the exercise of their 
corporate power shall or shall not be reviewed by the 
highest judicatories of the church in the mode pre- 
scribed by the constitution and usages thereof. 

Sec. 2. Such certificate shall be signed by at least 
a majority of such session or consistory, and when 
duly acknowledged by the signers thereof, shall be 
recorded in the office of the county clerk of the 
county named therein, and thereupon the pastor, 
ruling elders, and deacons, the pastor and the dea- 
cons, or the deacons as the case may be, shall 



1 1 6 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

become a corporation by the name expressed in said 
certificate ; but a vacancy in the office of pastor 
shall in no degree affect such corporation. 

Sec. 3. If in any case where the corporate powers 
are vested in deacons alone their number shall be 
less than two in office, and residing within the bounds 
of the congregation then during such time the rul- 
ing elders of such church shall be members of said 
corporation. 

Sec. 4. Any person who shall become duly in- 
vested with the office of pastor, ruling elder, or dea- 
con in any particular church, shall become a mem- 
ber of the corporation enacted for that church, sub- 
ject to the election of the church, as determined un- 
der the provisions of the first section of this act, and 
the corporate functions of all officers shall cease on 
the vacation of the ecclesiastical office. 

Sec 5. If it shall happen that any church whose 
officers have been incorporated under this act shall 
be temporarily without officers, such corporation shall 
not for that cause be dissolved, but the presbytery, 
or classis to which the church belongs, may appoint 
trustees to execute the functions of such corpora- 
tion during the existence of the disability, but no 
longer. 

Sec. 6. The congregation of any church of the 
description named in the first section of this act, the 
trustees of which have been incorporated under any 
law of this State, may elect to dissolve their existing 
organization, and take corporate powers under this 
act ; provided, that the consent of two thirds of all 
persons present at a public meeting, and who are 



Michigan. 117 

entitled to vote for trustees under such law, be ob- 
tained, of which meeting due notice of the time and 
place and object thereof shall be given, in the man- 
ner prescribed by section 2012 of the compiled laws. 
If such consent shall be obtained, a certificate there- 
of shall be executed, and acknowledged by the presid- 
ing officer and secretary of such meeting, and shall be 
recorded in the office of the clerk of the county 
where the original certificate of incorporation was 
recorded ; and on compliance with the provisions of 
this act, providing for the creation of such corpora- 
tions, all the property, powers, duties, trusts, and 
obligations of every kind possessed by, or pertaining 
to, the original corporation, shall be transferred to, 
and become vested in, the corporation organized for 
the same church under this act. 

Sec. 7. Every corporation created under this act 
may. sue and be sued in all courts and places, may 
have a common seal, and may alter the same at pleas- 
ure ; may take into their possession and custody all 
the temporalities of the church or congregation, 
whether the same shall consist of real or personal 
estate, and may recover and hold all debts, demands, 
rights and privileges, all churches, buildings, and 
burying-places, belonging to the church or congrega- 
tion, in whatever manner the same may have been 
acquired, or in whose hands soever the same may be 
held, as fully and amply as if the right and title 
thereto had been originally vested in such corporation, 
and may hold such an amount of real estate as shall 
be reasonably necessary for a church, lecture, or 
school-room, for burying-places, and for dwellings for 



1 1 8 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

the ministers thereof; but it shall not be lawful for such 
corporation to hold real estate for any other purpose. 

Sec. 8. Every corporation created under this act 
shall also have authority, under the direction of the 
congregation, to erect churches and meeting-houses, 
dwelling-houses for their ministers, and other build- 
ings for the legitimate use of the church or congrega- 
tion, and to alter and repair the same, and also, under 
the direction of the congregation, to execute and 
acknowledge any obligations and securities upon the 
property of such church or congregation for the pay- 
ment of just liabilities which may be created in the 
erection or repair of such church, meeting-house, or 
other buildings. 

Sec. 9. No corporation created under this act 
shall have the power to fix the salary or compensa- 
tion to be paid any minister, but the same shall be 
fixed by the congregation according to the constitu- 
tion and usages of such church. 

PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

Sec I. That it shall be lawful for any six or more 
persons professing attachment to the Protestant 
Episcopal Church to execute and acknowledge before 
any person authorized to take acknowledgments of 
deeds one or more duphcate articles of agreement in 
writing, whereby they shall agree to organize a church 
according to the usages of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church, by the name and style set forth in such ar- 
ticles ; and upon the execution and acknowledgment 
thereof, such Church shall become a body politic and 
corporate by the name set forth in such articles in 



Michigan. 119 

accordance with the canons, doctrines, discipHne, 
and worship of the Protestant Episcopal Church. 

Sec. 2. Such articles shall contain : — 

First. The name of the purposed church. 

Second. The township, or city and county, in which 
it is located. 

Third. The number of vestry-men, not exceeding 
ten, who shall have charge of the affairs of such church 
and the time of the annual meeting, which shall be 
in Easter week ; and no church shall be organized in 
any township or city bearing the same name with 
any other Protestant Episcopal Church theretofore 
organized therein. 

Sec. 3. Such articles of agreement, when duly 
signed and acknowledged, shall be recorded in the 
office of the county clerk of the county in which such 
church is located ; and it shall not be lawful for any 
such church to acquire the title to any property until 
such articles are recorded. 

Sec. 4. Any three or more persons who have 
signed any such articles of agreement may call the 
first meeting of such church, at such time and place 
as they may see fit, by publishing notice for ten days 
previous to the time of such meeting in some news- 
paper published in the city or township in which such 
church is located ; and if no newspaper is published 
therein, then such notice may be given by posting 
the same in three of the most public places in such 
city or township, and at the meeting the affidavit of 
such posting or pubHshing shall be produced and re- 
corded in the minutes. And it is ftirther provided, 
That at such meeting, in addition to the signing of 



I20 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

such articles, any male person of full age shall be en- 
titled to vote who shall sign a declaration in writing, 
to be kept in the book of minutes, whereby he shall 
signify his intention of attaching himself to said 
church, and accepting the terms of such articles. 
Vestry-men of the church shall be elected at said meet- 
ing or any adjournment thereof. 

Sec. 5. At all subsequent meetings the right of 
voting shall be confined to the persons who became' 
actually entitled to vote at the first meeting, and to 
such others, male persons of full age, as have during 
the year previous been stated worshipers in such 
church, and owned or rented a pew therein, or been 
stated contributors to its support. The annual meet- 
ing shall take place at such time in Easter week as 
shall be fixed in said articles, and at such annual 
meeting an election of vestry-men shall be had, to 
serve until the next annual meeting, and until their 
successors are chosen. 

Sec. 6. The vestry-men shall choose two of their 
number to be wardens. They may also appoint a 
secretary and treasurer from their own number, and 
may employ such other agents and servants as they 
may see fit. Meetings of the vestry-men may be 
called by the rector of the church, or by either war- 
den, or by any two other vestry-men, and a majority 
in number of the vestry-men elected will constitute a 
quorum for the transaction of business. The rector 
when present must preside at all vestry meetings, but 
will have no vote, except a casting vote in case of a 
tie ; and in his absence one of the wardens, if present, 
must preside. All vacancies in such vestry may be 



Michigan, 12 1 

filled by the vestry-men at any meeting, and the per- 
sons elected to fill such vacancies may hold for the 
same period as their predecessors would have done. 

Sec. 7. All the temporal affairs of such churches 
shall be managed by the vestry-men thereof, and they 
shall have authority to erect, alter, repair, enlarge, 
and in case they deem it necessary, to take down, or 
remove and rebuild any church or other building be- 
longing to such corporation, and no owner of any 
pew or slip in such church will be held to be the 
owner of any interest in the land whereon the same 
is erected. It shall be lawful for such corporations 
to hold such amount of' real estate as shall be rea- 
sonably necessary for a church and lecture or school- 
room, and dwellings for the ministers thereof; but it 
shall not be lawful for such corporation to hold or 
use any real estate for any other purpose. This act 
shall take effect immediately. 

ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

Act approved March 27, 1S67. 

Sec. I. The People of the State of Michigan enacts 
that all gifts, grants, deeds, wills, and other convey- 
ances, wherein or whereby any lands, tenements, or 
other property within this State have been given, 
devised, or granted, or in any manner conveyed, by 
any person or persons whatsoever, unto any person 
or persons by the name, style, or title of Roman 
Catholic or Catholic bishop of the diocese of Bards- 
town, Kentucky, or his successors, or the Roman 
Catholic bishop or Catholic bishop of Cincinnati, 
Ohio, and his successors in office, or to the Roman 



122 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

Catholic or Catholic bishop of Detroit, or adminis- 
trator of Detroit and his successors, or to the Roman 
Catholic or Catholic Bishop of Sault St. Marie, or to 
the Roman Catholic or Catholic Bishop of Marquette 
or his successors, or to any other person or persons 
upon the trust expressed or implied, to take, hold, 
and receive the same for the use and benefit of any 
religious congregation of Roman Catholics, or for 
the support, aid, and maintenance of any hospital,' 
alms-house, seminary, church, parsonage, or the bur- 
ial-ground, or other religious or charitable purpose 
within this State ; and all such gifts, grants, deeds, 
wills, and other conveyances which may hereafter be 
made, shall be sufficient and effectual in law to vest 
the legal title of, in, and to said lands and tenements, 
in such grantee or devisee in the present bishops or 
administrators of the Roman Catholic diocese within 
the State of Michigan, in their respective dioceses, 
and in the persons who after them may become Ro- 
man CathoHc bishops of said dioceses, and in the 
successors of said Roman Catholic bishops forever 
in trust for the uses and purposes for which the said 
property is or may be hereafter acquired, granted, 
doneed, and in no other person or persons whatever ; 
provided, that it shall be necessary, in relation to all 
gifts, grants, deeds, wills, and other conveyances 
heretofore made, as aforesaid, that the person or 
persons to whom the same were made, or to such 
persons as they may have conveyed to if living, shall 
release their estate or interest therein to the said 
Roman Catholic bishops in the State of Michigan 
within their respective dioceses ; and provided further^ 



Michigan. 123 

that nothing in this act shall be taken or construed 
to give or grant to the said Roman Catholic bishops 
or administrators of the said dioceses of the State of 
Michigan, or their successors, the right to hold real 
estate in trust for any society, except for charitable, 
religious, or literary purposes, or for burial-grounds, 
as provided for in this act. 

Chapter 249. 
OFFENSES AGAINST DECENCY. 

Sec. 25. No person shall willfully disturb, inter- 
rupt, or disquiet any assembly of people met for re- 
ligious worship, by profane discourse, by rude and 
indecent behavior, or by making a noise either with- 
in the place of worship, or so near it as to disturb the 
order and solemnity of the meeting ; nor shall any 
person within two miles of the place where any re- 
ligious society shall be actually assembled for relig- 
ious worship expose to sale or gift any ardent or 
distilled liquors, wine, beer, cider, fruit, or any other 
article of food or merchandise, or keep open any 
huxter shop in any other place, inn, stand, or gro- 
cery, than such as shall be or have been duly li- 
censed, or in which such person shall have usually 
carried on such business ; nor shall any person within 
the distance aforesaid promote, aid, or be engaged in 
any racing of any animals, or in any gaming of any 
description ; nor shall any person obstruct the free 
passage of any highway to any place of public wor- 
ship within the distance aforesaid. 

Sec. 26. Whoever shall violate either of the pro- 
visions of the foregoing section may be convicted 



124 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

summarily before any justice of the peace of the 
county, or any mayor, recorder, alderman, or other 
magistrate of any city or township where the offense 
shall be committed, and on such conviction shall for- 
feit a sum not exceeding twenty-five dollars, for the 
benefit of the township libraries in the township in 
which such conviction is had. 

Sec. 27.* It shall be the duty of all sheriffs, and 
their deputies, coroners, marshals, constables, and* 
other peace officers, all presiding elders, and minis- 
ters of the Gospel, deacons, stewards, and official 
members of any church, or religious society, who 
may be present at the meeting of any assembly for 
religious worship, which shall be interrupted or dis- 
turbed in the manner herein prohibited, on sight to 
apprehend the offender and take him before some 
justice of the peace, or other magistrate authorized 
to convict as aforesaid, to be proceeded against ac- 
cording to law. 



Chapter XIX,— Minnesota. 

General Statutes of 1866-7— Chapter 34. 

Body of the Law copied from New York Law of 18 13 — Wlio may- 
Vote — Sale of Real Estate — Succession Established — Trustees may 
be chosen according to Denominational Usage — Disturbing Religious 
Meetings. 

The laws for the incorporation of religious societies 
in this State are copied from those of the State of 
New York, passed in 1813, and differ from them in 
the following sections only. (See New York.) 

* As amended in 1 87 1, 



Miujicsota, 125 

Sec. ^^2, No person belonging to any such church, 
congregation, or society, incorporated under the pro- 
visions of this chapter, is entitled to vote at any elec- 
tion after the first, until he has been an attendant on 
public worship in such church, congregation, or so- 
ciety at least six months before such election, and 
contributed to the support of such church, congrega- 
tion, or society, according to the usages and customs 
thereof. 

Sec 85."^ It shall be lawful for any religious cor- 
poration, organized under the provisions of this 
title, by and through their trustees, to sell and cor- 
vey, encumber, or otherwise dispose of any real estate 
belonging to such corporation ; provided, however, 
that no such conveyance or encumbrance shall be 
made by the trustees, except when first authorized to 
make the same, by a resolution of such society passed 
at a meeting thereof called for that purpose, notice 
of the time, place, and object of which shall be given 
at least four successive Sabbaths on which such society 
statedly meet for public worship immediately preced- 
ing the time specified for such meeting ; and proof 
of the fact of such notice, meetings, and resolutions 
may be made by the aflfidavits of one of such trustees, 
or by any of the members of such society cognizant 
of the facts. Such affidavits may be recorded at 
length in the office of the register of deeds of the 
county where the premises are situated, and the 
same, and the records thereof aforesaid, or certified 
copies of such records, shall be presumptive of the 
facts therein contained. 

* As amended March, 1867. 
10 



1 26 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

Sec. 87. All lands, tenements, and hereditaments 
lawfully conveyed by devise, grant, purchase, or other- 
wise, to any persons as trustees for the use of any 
religious society organized, or which may hereafter 
be organized, within this State, either for a meeting- 
house, burial-ground, or for the residence of a preach- 
er, shall descend with the improvements, in perpetual 
succession to, and shall be held by, such trustees in 
trust for such society. 

Sec. 88. Whenever, by the constitution, rules, or 
usages of a particular church, or religious denomina- 
tion, trustees are required to be appointed by any 
ministers, presiding elders, or other officers of such 
church or denomination, such ministers, presiding 
elders, or other officer, or officers shall give to such 
trustees a certificate of their appointment under the 
hand and seal of the person making the same, speci- 
fying the name by which such trustees and their suc- 
cessors shall forever thereafter be called and known, 
which certificate shall be acknowledged, and proved, 
and recorded as hereinbefore directed ; whereupon 
such trustees and their successors, appointed in the 
same manner, shall be a body corporate, by the name 
expressed in such certificate, with all the rights, pow- 
ers, and privileges of other religious corporations con- 
stituted according to the provisions of this title. 

Sec 89. Whenever, by the constitution, rules, and 
usages of any particular church or religious denomi- 
nation, the ministers, elders, and deacons, or other 
officers, elected by any church or congregation, ac- 
cording to such constitution, rules, or usages, are 
thereby constituted the trustees of such church or 



Minnesota, 127 

congregation, such minister or ministers, elders or dea- 
cons, or other officers, may assemble together and ex- 
ecute under their hands and seals a certificate, stating 
therein the name by which they, and their successors 
in office, shall forever thereafter be called and known, 
which certificate shall be acknowledged, or proved 
and recorded as hereinbefore directed ; whereupon 
such persons, and their successors in office, shall be 
a body corporate by the name expressed in such cer- 
tificate, with all the rights, powers, and privileges of 
other religious corporations constituted according to 
the provisions of this title. 

Chapter 100. 
DISTURBING RELIGIOUS MEETINGS. 

Sec. 23. No person shall keep any shop, tent, 
booth, wagon, carriage for the sale of, or shall sell, 
give, or expose for sale, any spirituous or intoxicat- 
ing liquors, goods, or merchandise of any kind, within 
two miles of any public assembly, camp or grove- 
meeting, convened for the purpose of religious wor- 
ship ; but this shall not be construed to prevent any 
person from selling merchandise at the shop or store 
where he usually transacts business, nor from selling 
liquors in any place where he has received a license 
therefor, before the appointment of such religious 
meeting, nor to prevent any peddler from selling his 
goods to any person at the usual place of business, 
or residence of such person. 

Sec. 24. Whoever is guilty of a breach of the pre- 
ceding section, upon conviction -thereof before any 
justice of the peace shall be fined not exceeding 



128 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

thirty dollars, or imprisoned in the county jail for 
any term not exceeding thirty days, or may be sen- 
tenced to both said punishments. 

Sec. 25. Whoever is guilty of noisy, rude, or in- 
decent behavior, of exhibiting shows or plays, or pro- 
moting or engaging in horse-racing, or gambling, at 
or near any such religious meeting, so as to interrupt 
or disturb the same, or at any religious meeting of the 
citizens of this State, maliciously cuts, or otherwise' 
injures or destroys, any harness, or tents, or other 
property belonging to any tent-holder or other per- 
son, upon conviction thereof before any justice of the 
peace shall be fined not exceeding fifty dollars ; or if 
the offense is of an aggravated nature, he may be 
held to recognize, with sufficient sureties, to appear 
at the District Court next to be holden in the same 
ocunty, and upon conviction before such court he 
shall be fined in any sum not exceeding- one hundred 
dollars, or imprisonment in the county jail not ex- 
ceeding ninety days, or by both such fine and im- 
prisonment. 

Sec. 26. No prosecution for any violation of the 
provisions of the last three sections shall be sus- 
tained, unless commenced within sixty days after the 
commission of such offense. 



Mississippi, 129 



Chapter XX. Mississippi. 

Eevised Code, 1857— Chapter 35. 

How to Incorporate — Right to Property — Powers of the Coi-poration 
— Marriages — Disturbing Religious Worship. 

Sec. I. Persons desiring to be incorporated as a 
religious society may prepare a charter, drawn up on 
parchment or paper, which must be headed " The 
Charter of Incorporation," and contain a clear and 
definite statement of the purposes for which the cor- 
poration was created, the names of the persons or 
designation of the inhabitants incorporated, the cor- 
porate name by which it is to be known, the powers 
to be exercised, the period for which such corpora- 
tion is to exist, if it is to be limited in duration, to- 
gether with whatever else may be necessary to be 
stated. The charter so proposed must be submitted 
to the governor for his approval, who must take the 
advice of the attorney general as to the constitution- 
ality of the provisions of such charter, and if the 
governor approve it, he must write his approval at 
the bottom of it, and sign his name thereto, and 
cause the great seal of the State to be affixed thereto 
by the Secretary of State. The governor, however, 
may require amendments or alterations to be made 
to such proposed charter previous to signing the 
same ; or if deemed expedient by him, he may with- 
hold his approval entirely. 

Sec. 2. Upon the approval of the charter by the 
governor, the powers specified in such charter will 
be vested in the corporation, and the corporation 



1 30 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

will go into effect and operation at the time, and on 
the terms specified, subject, however, to be repealed 
by the Legislature of the State. 

Sec. 3. In like manner the charter may be amend- 
ed or renewed. In case of renewal merely, it will be 
sufficient for the governor to give a certificate that 
the original charter is renewed under the great seal 
of the State. 

Sec. 4. Every charter so granted, and every amend- 
ment and certificate of renewal, must be recorded at 
length in the office of the Secretary of State, in a 
well-bound book to be kept by him for that pur- 
pose, and for making such record he may charge 
ten cents for every hundred words. The original 
must be delivered to the parties, and a certified copy 
is made admissible in evidence in all courts of jus- 
tice in the State. The Secretary of State is required 
to furnish such certified copy to any person demand- 
ing the same, at a like charge as for recording the 
original. 

Sec. 5. Every religious corporation has succession 
for the time limited in the charter, and if no time be 
limited, then perpetual succession. They may deter- 
mine the manner of calHng and conducting meetings, 
and the number to constitute a quorum ; they may 
elect all necessary officers, and prescribe the salaries 
and terms of officers ; they may sue and be sued, 
and prosecute and be prosecuted to judgment and 
satisfaction before any court of justice in this State ; 
they may each have a corporate seal ; they may con- 
tract, and be contracted with, within the limits of 
their corporate powers ; they may sell and convey 



Mississippi. 131 

their real estate under their corporate seal, and the 
signature of the president or presiding officer, and 
may also sell their personal estate ; and they may 
make all necessary by-laws, not inconsistent with 
the laws of the State, and impose all necessary 
duties. 

Sec. 6. The first meeting of such religious corpo- 
ration, unless otherwise provided for, may be called by 
a notice published in some convenient newspaper for 
at least tefti days before the time appointed for the 
meeting, which notice must be signed by one or 
more persons named in the charter, and such meet- 
ing, when assembled, may proceed to organize the 
corporation. 

Sec. 7. In addition to the foregoing facilities for 
incorporating religious societies, it is provided that 
any religious society, consisting of the members of 
any particular denomination or congregation, desir- 
ing to act as an organized body, may do so by asso- 
ciating together, and electing or appointing from their 
ov/n body any number of trustees or managers, by 
whatever name known, for the purpose of managing 
the affairs of the society. The society or association 
are required to keep a record of its proceedings, 
which must show the organization thereof, and the 
election of the trustees or managers ; and any soci- 
ety thus organized at each particular locality must be 
a distinct and independent society. Such society 
may sue and be sued by their society name or ap- 
pellation, and process may be served on their presid- 
ing or chief officer by their secretary. 

Sec 8. Any religious society or congregation or 



132 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

ecclesiastical body may hold at any one place a 
house or tenement for a place of worship, with 
proper and reasonable ground attached thereto ; a 
house or tenement as a place of residence for their 
pastor or minister, with proper and reasonable ground 
thereto attached ; a house or tenement to be appro- 
priated and used as a male school, or seminary of 
learning, with proper and sufficient ground thereto 
attached ; and another house or tenement, to be ap- 
propriated as a female school or seminary of learning ; 
and a cemetery of sufficient dimensions and no more. 
Though it is provided that any religious society or 
denomination may own such cottages or seminaries 
of learning as it may think proper, if used for such 
purposes. 

Sec. 9. All lands, tenements, or hereditaments, or 
any interest or benefit therein or therefrom, except 
for the purposes specified in the last preceding sec- 
tion, which may be given, granted, conveyed, leased 
or released to any religious society, denomination, or 
congregation, either directly or indirectly, or in trust 
and confidence for the use or benefit of such society, 
either express, or implied, or secret, or by the judg- 
ment of any court, or by way of Hen, mortgage,' or 
pledge, are declared to be, ipso facto, by such aliena- 
tion, forfeited to the State. Nor can such society, 
denomination, or ecclesiastical body, by act or in- 
genuity, appropriate, or have appropriated to its use, 
or for its benefit, or to its disposition, any present 
or future interest in lands, tenements, or heredita- 
ments, other than to the extent above mentioned ; 
nor can any such society evade this provision, by 



Mississippi. 133 

any devise or subterfuge, in taking or holding more 
land for any of the purposes above-mentioned than is 
necessary. 

Sec. 10. Every devise or bequest of lands, tene- 
ments, or hereditaments, or any interest therein, or 
freehold, or less than freehold either present or 
future, vested or contingent, or of any money di- 
rected to be raised by the sale thereof, contained 
in any last will and testament, or codicil, or other 
testamentary writing, in favor of any religious or 
ecclesiastical corporations, sole or aggregate, or any 
religious or ecclesiastical society, or to any religious 
denomination, or association of persons, or to any 
person or body politic, in trust, either expressed or 
implied, secret or resulting, either for the use and 
benefit of such religious corporation, society, denomi- 
nation or association, or for the purpose of being 
given or appropriated to charitable uses or purposes, 
is declared to be null and void, and the heir at law 
will take the same property so devised, or bequeathed, 
as though no testamentary disposition had been 
made. 

Sec. II. Every legacy, gift, or bequest of money 
or personal property, or of any interest, benefit, or use 
therein, either direct, implied, or otherwise, contained 
in any last will and testament, or codicil in favor of 
any religious, ecclesiastical corporation, sole or aggre- 
gate, or any religious ecclesiastical society, or to any 
religious denomination or association, either for its 
own use or benefit, or for the purpose of being given 
or appropriated to charitable uses, is declared null 
and void, and the distributers are required to take the 



134 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

same, as though no such testamentary disposition had 
been made. 

Sec. 12. It is made lawful for a pastor of any re- 
ligious society in the State to join together in mar- 
riage such persons as are of the society according to 
the rules and customs estabHshed by the society ; and 
the clerk or keeper of the minutes, proceedings, or 
other books of the religious society, wherein such 
marriage may be had and solemnized in the society,' 
in a book kept by him for that purpose, and return a 
certificate of the same to the clerk of the Probate 
Court of the county, to be by him recorded, and such 
books are made evidence. 

DISTURBING RELIGIOUS MEETINGS. 

Any person who shall willfully disturb any congre- 
gation, or persons lawfully assembled for religious 
worship, may be immediately arrested by any officer 
or private person present, without warrant, and taken 
before any justice of the peace of the county, present 
or convenient, and required to enter into bond or re- 
cognizance for his good behavior, and to keep the 
peace, and for his appearance at the next term of the 
Circuit Court, to answer for the offense, and, on con- 
viction thereof, the offender must be fined not more 
than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned not more 
than six months, or both, at the discretion of the 
court. — Revised Code^ chapter z^, section 25. 



Missouri. 135 



Chapter XXI. — Missouri. 

Revised Statutes of 1871. 

H w to Incorporate — Form of Certificate — Disturbance of Religious 

Meetings. 

Sec. I. Any number of persons, not less than three 
in number, may become an incorporated church, re- 
ligious society, or congregation by complying with 
the provisions of this chapter, except that it will be 
sufficient if the petition be signed by all persons mak- 
ing the application ; and when so incorporated, such 
persons, and their associates and successors, shall be 
known by the corporate name specified in the certif- 
icate of its corporation, and shall be entitled to all 
the privileges, and capable of exercising all the 
powers conferred or authorized to be conferred by the 
constitution of this State upon such corporations. 
Application must be made to a judge of a Circuit 
Court, who will issue the following certificate. 

Whereas A. B., C. D., and others have filed in the 
office of the clerk of the Circuit Court their articles of 
association, in compliance with the provisions of an 
"Act concerning Corporations,'' approved March 19, 
1866, with their petition for incorporation under the 
name and style of . . . they are therefore hereby de- 
clared a body politic and corporate, by the name 
and style aforesaid, with all the powers, privileges, 
and immunities granted in the act above named. By 
order of the Circuit Court (or judge thereof) 
Attest, G. H., 

Clerk of the Circuit Court of County. 



136 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

Article 8. 
DISTURBING RELIGIOUS MEETINGS, 

Sec. 30. Every person who shall willfully, mali- 
ciously, or contemptuously disquiet or disturb any 
camp-meeting, congregation, or other assembly of 
people met for religious worship by making a noise, 
or by rude or indecent behavior, or profane discourse, 
within their place of worship, or so near to the same' 
as to disturb the order or solemnity of the meeting, 
or menace, threaten, or assault any person there be- 
ing, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and 
punished by fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, 
and, if unable to pay the fine, by confinement in the 
county jail not exceeding three months. 

Sec. 31. Every person who shall erect or keep a 
booth, tent, stall, or other contrivance for the purpose 
of selling or otherwise disposing of any wine or 
spirituous or fermented liquors, or any drink of which 
wine or spirituous liquors form a part, within one mile 
of any camp or field meeting for religious worship 
during the time of holding such meeting, shall upon 
conviction be adjudged guilty of a misdemeanor and 
fined not exceeding fifty dollars. 



Nebraska. 137 



Chapter XXI I. — Nebraska. 

Revised Statutes of 1873. 

Organization — Powers of Trustees — How Supply in case of Va- 
cancy. 

Sec. I. It shall be lawful for any religious sect or 
denomination, fire company, or any literary, scien- 
tific, or benevolent association within this State, to 
elect at a meeting of a majority of the members of 
any organized church, fire company, literary, scien- 
tific, or benevolent association as aforesaid, called for 
that purpose, any number of their members not less 
than three, to serve as trustees or directors, and one 
member as clerk, who shall hold their offices during 
the pleasure of the society or association. 

Sec 2. That the clerk so appointed shall make a 
true record of the proceedings of the meeting pro- 
vided for in this subdivision, and certify and deliver 
the same to the clerk of the county where such 
meeting shall be held, together with the name by 
which such church, fire company, or association shall 
thereafter desire to be known, and it shall be the 
duty of each county clerk in this State, immediately 
upon the receipt of such certified statement, to record 
the same in a book of record to be kept by him pro- 
vided for that purpose at the expense of his county, 
for which service he may demand and receive the 
sum of ten cents for every hundred words, and from 
and after making such record by the county clerk, 
the said trustees or directors and their associated 
members and their successors, shall be invested with 



138 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

the powers, privileges, and immunities incident to 
aggregate corporations ; and a certified transcript of 
the record herein authorized to be made by the 
county clerk, shall be deemed and taken in all courts 
and places whatsoever in this State as prima-facie 
evidence of the existence of such association or cor- 
poration. 

Sec. 3. The trustees or directors who may be ap- 
pointed under the provisions of this subdivision and 
their successors in oflfice shall have perpetual suc- 
cession, by such name as may be designated, and by 
such name be legally capable of contracting, prose- 
cuting, and defending suits, and shall have capacity 
to acquire, hold, enjoy, dispose of, and convey all 
property, real and personal, which they may acquire 
by purchase, donation, or otherwise, for the purpose 
of carrying out the intentions of such society or as- 
sociation, but they shall not acquire or hold property 
for any other purpose. 

Sec. 4. Such society or association, when incorpo- 
rated, may elect such officers and make such rules 
and regulations as may be necessary or expedient 
for its own government and the management of its 
fiscal and other affairs to effect their respective 
objects. 

Sec. 5. If said board of trustees or directors, as is 
provided for in this subdivision, shall be vacated, 
either in whole or in part, by death, resignation, or 
otherwise, such board of trustees or directors may be 
revived, or such vacancy or vacancies filled, in the 
manner pointed out in this subdivision for the orig- 
inal organization of said board, and a majority of said 



Nebraska. 1 39 

trustees or directors shall be a quorum for the trans- 
action of business. 



Chapter XXIII. — Ne^A^ Hampshire. 

General Statutes, 1867.— Chapter 139. 

Societies — How Formed — Powers and Duties of Tmstees — Mem- 
l:)ership to be Voluntary — Assessments — Taxes^ — Donations to Unin- 
corporated Societies — Church Officers may be Corporate Bodies — 
When Ministers may be deemed Corporators — May hold Parsonages 
— Conveyances — Income of Property — Neglects not to afiect the Soci- 
ety — Disturbance of Religious Worship. 

Sec. I. Any persons may associate together, by 
written articles signed by each member, as a relig- 
ious society, assume a corporate name, and choose a 
clerk, who shall be duly sworn ; and, having recorded 
their proceedings, name, and intention, in a book of 
records to be kept by said clerk, and published no- 
tice thereof, they shall be a body poHtic and cor- 
porate. 

Sec 2. Such society shall possess the powers, and 
be subject to the duties incident to corporations of a 
similar nature, so far as the same are not limited or 
enlarged by this chapter ; may take and hold real 
and personal estate, for the purpose of erecting and 
keeping in repair a house of public worship, a par- 
sonage house, and other buildings necessarily con- 
nected therewith, and supporting the ministry in 
such society ; and may improve and dispose of the 
same, for the sole use and benefit of such society ; but 
the annual value or income of all the property of 
such society shall not exceed five thousand dollars. 



140 Laws Relating to Religions Corporations, 

Sec. 3. No person shall be liable as a member of 
any society without his express consent first heard 
and obtained ; and any person may separate from 
any society by leaving with the clerk thereof a writ- 
ten notice, by him signed, of his intention so to sepa- 
rate, and paying all legal assessments and arrearages 
then due from him to such society. 

Sec 4. Such society may assess and raise money 
by taxes upon the polls and ratable estates of the 
members thereof, and collect and appropriate the 
same for the purposes aforesaid ; and the assessors 
and collectors, in assessing and collecting any such 
tax, shall have the powers, and be subject to the pen- 
alties, of similar town officers in like cases. 

Sec. 5. If any donation, gift, or grant be made to 
any unincorporated religious society, such society shall 
have the like power to manage, use, and employ the 
same, according to the terms and conditions on which 
the same may be made, as incorporated societies may 
have by law, and to elect suitable trustees, agents, or 
other officers therefor, and to prosecute and sue for 
any right which may vest in them in consequence of 
such donation, gift, or grant ; and such society shall 
be a corporation, so far as may be necessary for the 
purposes expressed in this section ; but the income 
of the donations, gifts, or grants to any such unincor- 
porated religious society shall not exceed the sum of 
five thousand dollars a year. 

Sec 6. The trustees, deacons, church-wardens, or 
other similar officers of all churches or religious so- 
cieties, if citizens of the United States, shall be 
deemed bodies corporate for the purpose of taking 



New Hampshire, 141 

and holding in succession all grants and donations, 
whether of real or personal estate, made either to 
them and their successors, or to their respective 
churches, or to the poor of their churches. 

Sec. 7. In all cases where the ministers, elders, or 
vestry of any church shall, in the grants and dona- 
tions mentioned in the preceding section, have been 
joined with such deacons or church-wardens as do- 
nees or grantees, such officers and their successors, 
together with the deacons or church-wardens, shall 
be deemed the corporation for the purposes of such 
grants and donations. 

Sec. 8. The minister of every church or religious 
society, of whatever denomination, if a citizen of the 
United States, shall be capable of taking in succes- 
sion any parsonage land granted to the minister 
and his successors, or to the use of ministers, or 
granted by any words of the like import, and may 
prosecute and defend in all actions touching the 
same. 

Sec 9. No conveyance of the lands of any church 
shall be effectual to pass the same, if made by the 
trustees or deacons, without the consent of the 
church, or a committee of the church appointed for 
that purpose, or, if made by the church-wardens, 
without the consent of the vestry. 

Sec. 10. No conveyance made by any minister, of 

lands held by him in succession, shall be valid any 

longer than he continue to be such minister, unless 

such conveyance shall be made with the consent of 

the town, parish, or religious society of which he is a 

minister, or unless he be a minister of an Episcopal 
11 



142 Laws Relating to Religious Corporatioits. 

Church, and shall make the conveyance with the con- 
sent of the vestry. 

Sec. II. The several churches, other than those of 
the Episcopal denomination, are authorized to choose 
committees for the purpose of settling the accounts 
of the trustees, deacons, and other church officers, 
and, if necessary, to commence and prosecute any 
suit in the name of the church against the said trust- 
ees, deacons, or other officers touching the same. 

Sec. 12. The income of any grant or donation 
made to or for the use of any church shall not ex- 
ceed five thousand dollars a year, exclusive of the in- 
come of any parsonage lands granted to or for the 
use of the ministry. 

Sec. 13. The overseers of each monthly meeting, 
of the people called Friends or Quakers, shall be a 
body corporate, to take and hold in succession all 
grants and donations of real or personal estate made 
to the use of such meeting, or to the use of any pre- 
parative meeting belonging thereto, and to alien or 
manage such real or personal estate, according to the 
terms and conditions of the grants and donations, 
and to prosecute and defend in any action touching 
the same ; but the income of the grants and dona- 
tions to any such meeting for the uses aforesaid shall 
not exceed the sum of five thousand dollars a year. 

Sec. 14. No religious society or corporation shall 
be dissolved or extinguished, nor shall its right or 
title to any property acquired by purchase, gift, de- 
vise, bequests, or otherwise be in any way affected 
by the neglect or omission of such society, or corpora- 
tion, to hold its annual meeting or choose its officers, 



New Hampshire, 143 

or by reason of the omission or neglect of its clerk, 
or any other officer to be sworn, or by reason of any 
informality in the election of its officers, or defect in 
its records. 

Chapter 140. 
SALE, REPAIRS, AND MODIFICATION OF MEETING-HOUSES. 

Sec. I. If any meeting-house has ceased to be 
occupied by the proprietors thereof as a place of 
public worship for the space of two years, said pro- 
prietors, at a meeting called for that purpose, may, 
by major vote, decide to sell the same at auction, and 
appoint a committee, with full power to make such 
sale and execute a conveyance of said house and its 
appurtenances to the purchaser, said committee first 
publishing a notice of the time and place of sale. 

Sec. 2. Such meeting may be called by any three 
of the proprietors by pubHshing a notice thereof, the 
last publication to be at least ten days before said 
meeting. 

Sec 3. Said committee shall divide the net pro- 
ceeds of such sale among the proprietors of the 
house, according to their respective interests therein, 
to be determined by a committee of three or five dis- 
interested persons, chosen by the proprietors for that 
purpose. 

Sec 4. If any meeting-house built by its pew- 
holders has ceased to be occupied as a place of pub- 
lic worship, the pew-holders, by a three- fourths vote, 
at a meeting called in the manner provided in the 
second section, by any three or more of their num- 
ber, may decide to sell the same at auction, and 



1 44 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

appoint a committee, with full power to make such 
sale and execute a conveyance of said house and its 
appurtenances, said committee to publish notice of 
the time and place of sale ; and the net proceeds of 
such sale shall be divided as provided in the preced- 
ing section. 

Sec. 5. If any meeting-house built by any town or 
corporation has ceased to be occupied as a place of 
worship, such town or corporation may decide to sell 
the same at auction, and appoint a commitee to make 
the sale, and execute the conveyance of the house 
and its appurtenances, said committee first publish- 
ing notice of the time and place of sale ; and the net 
proceeds of such sale shall be equally divided be- 
tween the proprietors, owners, and pew-holders of 
such house, according to the value of their respective 
interests therein, to be determined by the county 
commissioners for the county wherein the same is 
situated, on application to them for that purpose by 
any party interested. 

Sec. 6. If a majority in interest of the proprietors 
of any building used as a house of pubhc worship 
are of the opinion that said building needs repairs, 
and have signified that opinion, by signing a paper 
expressing their assent to a call of a meeting of said 
proprietors for the purpose of providing for such re- 
pairs, any one of said proprietors may call such 
meeting at such house, to consult and agree about 
repairing the same, by giving to each proprietor in 
hand, or leaving at his abode, or depositing in the 
post-office, inclosed in an envelope properly stamped 
and directed to such proprietor at his abode, a writ- 



New Hampshire. 145 

ten or printed notice by him signed, stating the time, 
place, and objects of such meeting, not more than 
thirty, nor less than ten days before the day of 
meeting. 

Sec. 7. If it be impracticable to give the notice 
prescribed in the preceding section, for the reason 
that the residence of any proprietor is unknown, 
such meeting may be called by posting a notice 
thereof, twenty days at least before the day of meet- 
ing, in two or more public places in the town where 
such house is situated, and publishing a like notice. 

Sec. 8. At such meeting each individual owner in 
the building shall be entitled to one vote, in the elec- 
tion by ballot of a committee of three, who shall 
appraise each interest, and establish the proportion 
of each interest to the whole value of the property ; 
and the expense of any repairs made shall be as- 
sessed upon the interest of each proprietor, agree- 
ably to the proportion established by such com- 
mittee. 

Sec. 9. If any proprietor neglects to attend such 
meeting, or, attending, does not agree with the ma- 
jority in interest of the proprietors as to the repair 
of such house, such majority may cause such repairs 
to be made as they judge necessary or advisable, and 
shall be reimbursed such sums as they, or any of 
them, may advance toward said repairs, beyond their 
respective proportion of the expense thereof, by a 
sale at auction, at said house, after the lapse of one 
year, of any delinquent proprietor s pew or pews, or 
other interest in said house and any estate connected 
therewith ; until which sale shall be made, the pro- 



146 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

prietors who have made such advances shall have a 
valid lien upon such delinquent's entire interest in 
said house and estate, for his proportion of the whole 
expense of such repairs. 

Sec. 10. If any proprietor fails to pay his propor- 
tion of the expense of such repairs within one year 
from the completion thereof, his whole interest in 
such house and estate may be sold at auction to pay 
the same, with interest and incidental charges. Such 
sale may be made by the town clerk, or any justice 
of the peace resident in the town where said house 
is situate, upon application to him for that purpose, 
notice of the time and place of sale having first been 
published ; and such town clerk or justice may 
make and execute a valid conveyance to the pur- 
chaser. 

Sec. II. If from such sale a greater sum is real- 
ized than is required to pay the delinquent proprie- 
tor s proportion of the expense of such repairs, with 
interest and incidental charges, the balance shall be 
deposited with the clerk of said town, to be paid 
such delinquent upon demand made thereof 

Sec. 12. If three fourths of the pew holders in any 
house of public worship desire to remove the same to 
a new location, to repair the same, modify the interior 
thereof, remove the pews and provide new ones, alter 
the pews and provide slips, or sell all the pews 
therein, or in any other way modify or change the 
interior accommodations of said house, and have sig- 
nified that desire by signing a paper expressing their 
assent to the call of a meeting of the pew holders for 
any of those purposes, any one of such pew holders 



New Hampshire, 147 

may call such meeting in the manner provided in 
the sixth and seventh sections of this chapter. 

Sec. 13. At such meeting the pew holders, by a 
three-fourths vote, may determine to make such re- 
moval, repairs, or changes as they deem advisable, 
and appoint agents to carry their votes into effect ; and 
the pews or other interest of any pew holder in said 
house, and any estate connected therewith, shall be 
liable, as hereinbefore provided in the case of repairs 
made by a majority of the proprietors, for his pro- 
portion of the expense of such removal, repairs, or 
changes, which proportion shall be determined by the 
selectmen on application to them for that purpose, 
unless the pew holders at such meeting unanimously 
agree upon a committee for that purpose. 

Sec. 14. If any pew holder, before any removal, re- 
pairs, or changes are commenced, shall offer to convey, 
and (if requested) actually conveys to the other pew 
holders, or any of them, his interest in such house at a 
sum mutually agreed upon or to be determined by said 
selectmen, he shall not be holden for the payment of any 
portion of the expense of repairs or changes subse- 
quently made ; otherwise the pew holders making ad- 
vances beyond their proportion to defray the expense of 
such repairs or changes shall have the same lien upon 
any delinquent pew holder's interest in said house and 
estate, for his proportion of that expense, as is herein- 
before provided in the case of repairs by a majority of 
proprietors ; and if the same shall not be paid by him 
within one year from the completion of such repairs 
or changes, such interest may be sold at auction, and 
conveyance thereof made as in that case provided. 



148 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

Sec. 15. If any town shall vote to repair for town 
purposes any meeting-house built by the town, it shall 
cause the pews therein to be appraised by a commit- 
tee of three disinterested persons, and pay to the pew 
holders the full value of their respective interests, as 
determined by such appraisal upon demand. Any 
pew holder dissatisfied with the appraisal of his pew, 
or such town, may appeal to the next trial term of 
the Supreme Court for the county in which such house ^ 
is situate, when the same proceedings shall be had as 
in the case of appeals from the assessment by select- 
men of damages for land taken for highways. 

Sec. 16. If three fourths of the owners, proprietors, 
or pew holders of any building used as a house of 
public worship are of opinion that such building is 
not sufficient to accommodate all those who desire 
to worship in such house, they may, at a meeting 
called for that purpose, sell or dispose of such house, 
in such manner as they may deem for the best in- 
terests of such owners, proprietors, or pew holders, 
and appropriate the proceeds of the same to such 
purpose as they may determine. Such meeting may 
be called, at such house, in the manner provided in 
the second section, by any three of the owners, pro- 
prietors, or pew holders. 

Chapter 255. 
DISTURBANCE OF RELIGIOUS MEETINGS. 

Sec 6. Any selectman or police officer shall have 
power to remove any person behaving rudely or in- 
decently, in any meeting for public worship, from the 
place of such meeting, and him detain until the close 



New Hampshire. 149 

thereof, and the same right to command assistance 
as sheriffs have, and may prosecute, [for such 
offenses.] 

Sec. 7. If any person shall disturb any religious 
meeting, by speaking in the same, so as to interrupt 
or prevent the stated or orderly proceedings and ex- 
ercises of such meeting, or shall make such disturb- 
ance while the people are assembling at or leaving 
their place of worship, and shall not desist there- 
from when requested, he may be removed from such 
meeting or place of worship by any individual. 

Sec. 8. Any person so offending shall be fined from 
one dollar to ten dollars, and may be required to rec- 
ognize, with sureties, in a sum not less than fifty 
dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, to be of 
good behavior for one year. 

Sec 9. No person, without permission from the 
managers of such assembly, shall keep any shop, tent, 
booth, wagon, or carriage, for the sale of, or shall sell, 
give, or expose to sale, any spirituous liquor, goods, 
or merchandise of any kind, within two miles of any 
public assembly convened for the purpose of religious 
worship ; but this shall not be construed to prevent 
any person from selling merchandise at the shop or 
store where he usually transacts business : nor from 
selling liquors in any place where he shall have re- 
ceived a license therefor, before the appointment of 
such religious meeting : nor to prevent any peddler 
from selling his goods to any person at the usual 
place of business or residence of such person. 

Sec II. If any person shall be guilty of a breach 
of either of the preceding sections he shall be fined 



ISO Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

not exceeding ten dollars, or imprisoned not exceed- 
ing thirty days, or both. 

Sec. 14. The ministers, elders, officers, or man- 
agers of any religious or other public meeting or 
assembly convened, or about to convene, in any town, 
may, at their own expense, employ police officers of 
any other town in this State to preserve order among 
the persons attending, and coming and going there ; 
and such officers, so employed, shall have the powers , 
these have in the towns for which they are ap- 
pointed. 

Sec. 15. No prosecution for the violation of any 
provision of this chapter shall be sustained unless 
commenced within thirty days after the commission 
of such offense. 



Chapter XXIV. — Ne^^r Jersey. 

Nixon's Digest, 186S. — Art, Eeligious Societies, p. 802. 

Trustees — How first Elected — Powers — Vacancies supplied — Dutch 
Reformed Churches. 

Sec. I. Every religious society or congregation of 
Christians entitled to protection in the free exercise 
of their religion by the constitution and laws of the 
State are authorized to assemble at their usual place 
of meeting for public worship at any time by them 
agreed upon, giving at least ten days' notice of the 
time and purpose of assembling by an advertisement 
set up in open view at or near such place of meeting, 
and, when so assembled, may, by plurality of voices of 



New Jersey, 151 

such of the said society or congregation as are pres- 
ent, elect any number, not exceeding seven, of the 
said society or congregation to be trustees of the 
same ; which said trustees, and their successors in 
office, are hereby constituted a body poHtic and cor- 
porate in law by whatever name they shall assume, 
agreeably to the directions of this act. 

Sec. 2. The said trustees, when they take upon 
themselves a name, shall certify such name under 
their hands and seals, and transmit such certificate 
to the clerk of the county, whose duty it shall be in- 
stantly to record the same, for which he shall be en- 
titled to receive one dollar. The said trustees shall 
be known and distinguished in law by the name of 
the incorporation so taken, certified, and recorded. 

Sec. 3. The said trustees and their successors 
shall by such name of incorporation be able and 
capable to acquire, purchase, receive, have and hold 
any lands, tenements, hereditaments, legacies, dona- 
tions, moneys, goods, and chattels in trust for the 
use of the said society or congregation to an amount 
in value not exceeding two thousand dollars a year, 
and the same, or any part thereof, to sell, grant, as- 
sign, demise, alien, and dispose of; to sue and be 
sued, implead and be impleaded, in any court of law 
or equity ; to make and use a common seal, and the 
same to alter and renew at pleasure. 

Sec. 4. For perpetuating a line of succession in 
the trustees of every religious society or congrega- 
tion, it shall and may be lawful for the members of 
the said society or congregation to assemble at any 
time they may think proper, giving notice thereof, as 



152 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

hereinbefore is directed, for the election of the first 
trustees, or for the election of any other trustee or 
trustees in the stead of those or any of those before 
elected, in case they see cause for the removal of any 
of the said trustees ; provided such removal shall not 
be in less than one year after his or their election 
into office ; and also to fill up any vacancy which 
may be occasioned by the death or resignation of 
any trustee, or his moving out of the limits of the 
said society or congregation. 

Sec. 5. Such corporation may elect annually, or 
oftener if necessary or expedient, one of their own 
members to be their president, who shall keep the 
minutes and enter the orders, acts, and proceedings 
by the corporation in a book to be kept for that pur- 
pose ; who shall have the custody of the common seal, 
and the papers, deeds, writings, documents, and books 
of, or relating to, the said corporation, and who is 
hereby empowered to convene the said corporation 
as occasion may require ; and in case of his absence, 
sickness, death, resignation, refusal to act, or moving 
out of the limits of the said religious society or con- 
gregation, then the said office of president shall de- 
volve on the senior trustee for the time being, who 
shall occupy the same until the return or recovery of 
the president, or the election of another. 

Sec. 6. Upon application to the president, any 
member of the said religious society or congregation 
shall have free access to all the papers, deeds, writ- 
ings, minutes, documents, and books of, or belonging 
to, the said corporation. 

Sec. 7. Upon the death, resignation, removal, or 



New Jersey. 153 

expiration of the office of president, or election of a 
new one, the common seal, and all the minutes, 
papers, deeds, writings, documents, and books of, or 
belonging to such corporation, shall be delivered to 
the successor in office on the oath of the preceding 
president, or, in case of his death, on the oath of his 
executors or administrators under such pecuniary- 
penalty as the said corporation shall have previously 
fixed and ordained to be recovered, with costs, by 
action of debt in the name, and for the use of, said 
corporation. 

Sec. 8. The proceedings, orders, and acts of a ma- 
jority of all the members of the said corporation, and 
not of a less number, shall be valid and effectual in 
law. 

Sec. 9. Provided always that nothing hereinbefore 
contained shall be construed to extend to or affect 
the Reformed Dutch Churches in this State. 

Sec. 10. . . . 

Sec. II. . . . The minister or ministers, elders 
and deacons for the time being, or, if there be no 
minister or ministers, the elders and deacons for the 
time being of every Reformed Dutch congregation 
shall be the trustees of the same, and a body politic 
and corporate in law, by such name as the said 
trustee shall assume in manner hereinafter di- 
rected. 

Sec. 12. The said trustees when they take upon 
themselves a name shall certify such name under 
their hands and seals, and transmit such certificate 
to the clerk of the Court of Common Pleas of the 
county, whose duty it shall be instantly to record the 



154 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

same, for which he shall be entitled to receive one 
dollar ; and thereupon the said trustees shall be 
known and distinguished in law by the name of 
incorporation so taken, certified, and recorded. 

Sec. 13. The said trustees of such Reformed 
Dutch congregation shall by such name be able and 
capable to acquire, purchase, receive, have, and hold 
any lands, tenements, hereditaments, legacies, dona- 
tions, moneys, goods and chattels, in trust for the 
use of said congregation, to any amount in value not 
exceeding two thousand dollars a year, and the same 
or any part thereof to sell, grant, assign, demise, alien 
or dispose of; to sue and be sued, implead or to be 
impleaded, in any court of law or equity, to make and 
use a common seal, and the same to alter and renew 
at pleasure. But no deed or instrument of convey- 
ance for any lands, tenements, hereditaments, or real 
estate shall be good or effectual in law unless it be 
sealed with the common seal, and signed by a major- 
ity of the members of the said corporation. 



New York. 155 



Chapter XXV. — Ne^Ar York. 

Act of 1813, with general Amendments — Reformed Protestant 
Dutch Church — General Law — Powers of Trustees — Two may Call 
a Meeting — Vacancies — How Filled — Who may Vote — How to In- 
crease or Diminish the Number of Trustees — Sale of Real Estate — 
Trustees of Methodist Episcopal Church in New York city — Amend- 
ment of 1844 — Supplementary Acts of 1875 — Trustees Hold until 
their Successors are Chosen — When Removed — Must Administer 
subject to Denominational Usage — Two Societies may Unite — Prot- 
estant Episcopal Church — Baptist Church — Roman Catholic Church 
— Presiding Elder Districts — Parsonages — Camp Grounds — Presby- 
teries may Incorporate — Dissolution of Societies — Form for Organi- 
zation. 

AN ACT to provide for the Incorporation of Religious Societies. 
P»ssed April 5, 1313. 

Section i. [This section, which refers to the in- 
corporation of churches in communion with the Prot- 
estant Episcopal Church, was repealed in 1868, and 
a special law, which is printed in a subsequent chap- 
ter, substituted therefor.] 

Sec. 2. (Relating to the Protestant Dutch Church.) 
The minister or ministers, and elders and deacons — 
and if, during any time, there be no minister, then 
the elders and deacons during such time — of every 
Reformed Protestant Dutch Church or congregation 
now or hereafter to be established in this State, and 
elected according to the rules and usages of such 
churches within the State, shall be the trustees for 
every such church or congregation ; and it shall be 
lawful for the said trustees, if not already incorporated, 
to assemble together as soon as they shall deem it 
convenient, and execute under their hands and seals 



156 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

a certificate certifying the name or title by which 
they and their successors forever, as a body corpo- 
rate, by virtue of this act, shall be known and distin- 
guished, which certificate, being duly acknowledged or 
proved as aforesaid, shall be recorded by the clerk of 
such county in a book to be by him provided as afore- 
said : and such trustees and their successors shall 
thereupon, by virtue of this act, be a body corporate by 
the name or title expressed in such certificate ; and 
it shall be lawful for the trustees of any such church 
or congregation elected by virtue of any former law 
of this State, by writing under their hands and seals 
to be proved, acknowledged, and recorded as aforesaid, 
to declare their will not to continue any longer a body 
corporate, and thereupon such body corporate shall 
cease, and all the estate, real and personal, held by 
them shall pass to and be vested in the trustees of 
such church or congregation, made a body corporate 
in the manner above directed. Provided, always, that 
nothing herein contained shall be construed in any 
manner to impair or alter the rights of any of the 
chartered churches within this State. 

Sec. 3. (This section provides for the incorpora- 
tion of all religious societies which do not organize 
under a special charter.) And be it further enacted : 
That it shall be lawful for the male persons, of full 
age, belonging to any other church, congregation, or 
religious society, now or hereafter to be established 
in this State, and not already incorporated, to assem- 
ble at the church, meeting-house, or other place where 
they statedly attend for divine worship, and by plu- 
rality of voices to elect any number of discreet per- 



New York, 157 

sons of their church, congregation, or society, not 
less than three nor exceeding nine in number, as 
trustees, to take charge of the estate and property 
belonging thereto, and to transact all affairs relative 
to the temporalities thereof; and that, at such elec- 
tion, every male person, of full age, who has statedly 
worshiped with said church, congregation, or society, 
and has formerly been considered as belonging there- 
to, shall be entitled to vote, and the said election shall 
be conducted as follows : the minister of said church, 
congregation, or society, or, in case of his death or 
absence, one of the elders or deacons, church-ward- 
ens or vestry-men thereof, and, for want of such offi- 
cers, any other person, being a member or a stated 
hearer in said church, congregation, or society, shall 
publicly notify the congregation of the time when, 
and place where, the said election shall be held, at 
least fifteen days before the day of election ; that the 
said notification shall be given for two successive 
Sabbaths, or days on which such church, congrega- 
tion, or society shall statedly meet for public wor- 
ship, preceding the day of election ; that on the said 
day of election, two of the elders or church-wardens, 
and, if there be no such officers, then two of the 
members of said church, congregation, or society, to 
be nominated by a majority of the members present, 
shall preside at such election, receive the votes of the 
electors, be the judges of the qualification of such 
electors, and the officers to return the names of the 
persons who, by plurality of voices, shall be elected 
to serve as trustees for the said church, congrega- 
tion, or society ; and the returning officers shall 
12 



158 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

immediately thereafter certify, under their hands and 
seals, the names of the persons elected to serve as 
trustees for such church, congregation, or society, in 
which certificate the name or title by which the said 
trustees and their successors shall forever thereafter 
be called and known, shall be particularly mentioned 
and described ; which said certificate, being proved 
or acknowledged as above directed, shall be recorded 
as aforesaid ; and such trustees and their successors 
shall also thereupon, by virtue of this act, be a body 
corporate by the name or title expressed in such cer- 
tificate; and the clerk of every county, for recording 
every certificate of incorporation, by virtue of this 
act, shall be entitled to seventy-five cents and no 
more. 

[By Chapter 656, Laws of 1867, this section was 
amended by striking out the word " male '' where it 
occurs ; and also the seventh section, by striking 
out the word *'he," and inserting the words "such 
person." 

By Chapter 158, Laws of 1844, certificates of in- 
corporation may be acknowledged or proved before 
any officer authorized to take acknowledgments or 
proofs of real estate.] 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the trust- 
ees of every church, congregation, or society, herein- 
above mentioned, and their successors, shall respect- 
ively have and use a common seal, and may renew 
and alter the same at their pleasure, and are hereby 
authorized and empowered to take into their posses- 
sion and custody all the temporalities belonging to 
such church, congregation, or society, whether the 



New York, 159 

same shall consist of real or personal estate, and 
whether the same shall have been given, granted, or 
devised directly to such church, congregation, or so- 
ciety, or to any other person for their use ; and also, 
by their corporate name or title, to sue and be sued 
in all courts of law or equity, and to recover, hold, 
and enjoy all the debts, demands, rights, and privi- 
leges, and all churches, meeting-houses, parsonages 
and burying-places, with the appurtenances, and all 
estates belonging to such church, congregation, or 
society, in whatsoever manner the same may have 
been acquired, or in whose name soever the same 
may have been held, as fully and amply as if the 
right or title thereto had originally been vested in 
said trustees ; and also to purchase and hold other 
real and personal estate, and to demise, lease, and im- 
prove the same for the use of said church, congrega- 
tion, or society, or other pious uses, so as the whole 
real and personal estate of any such church, congre- 
gation, or society, other than the corporation of the 
minister, elders, and deacons of the Reformed Prot- 
estant Dutch Church of the city of New York, and 
the First Presbyterian Church of the city of New 
York, and the rector, church-wardens, and vestry-men 
of St. George's Church in the city of New York, and 
of the ministers, elders, and deacons of the Reformed 
Dutch Church in the city of Albany, shall not exceed 
the annual value or income of three thousand dollars ; 
and of the said corporation of the ministers, elders, 
and deacons of the Reformed Dutch Church of the 
city of New York, the annual value or income of 
nine thousand dollars ; and of the said First Presby- 



l6o Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

terian Church of the city of New York, the annual 
value or income of six thousand dollars ; and of the 
said rector, church-wardens, and vestry-men of St. 
George's Church in the city of New York, the annual 
value or income of six thousand dollars ; and of the 
minister, elders, and deacons of the Reformed Dutch 
Church in the city of Albany, the annual value or in- 
com.e of ten thousand dollars ; and also to repair and 
alter their churches or meeting-houses, and to erect 
others if necessary, and to erect dwelling-houses for 
the use of their ministers, and school-houses and 
other buildings for the use of said church, congrega- 
tion, or society ; and such trustees shall also have 
power to make rules or orders for managing the tem- 
poral affairs of such church, congregation, or society, 
and to dispose of all moneys belonging thereto ; and 
to regulate and order the renting of the pews in their 
churches or meeting-houses, and the perquisites for 
the breaking of the ground in the cemetery or church- 
yards, and in the said churches and meeting-houses, 
for burying the dead, and all other matters relating 
to the temporal concerns and revenues of such church, 
congregation, or society ; and to appoint a clerk and 
treasurer of their board, and a collector to collect and 
receive the said rents and revenues ; and to regulate 
the fees to be allowed to such clerk, treasurer, and 
collector, and them, or either of them, to remove at 
pleasure and appoint others in their stead ; and such 
clerk shall enter all rules and orders made by such 
trustees, and payments ordered by them, in a book 
to be provided by them for that purpose. 

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That it shall be 



New York, i6i 

lawful for any two of such trustees, other than the 
trustees mentioned in the first section of this act, or 
their successors, at any time to call a meeting of such 
trustees ; and that a majority of the trustees of any 
church, congregation, or society, mentioned in this 
act, being lawfully convened, shall be competent to 
do and perform all matters and things which such 
trustees are authorized or required to do or perform, 
and that all questions arising at any such meetings 
shall be determined by a majority of the trustees 
present, and in case of an equal division, the presid- 
ing trustee shall have a casting vote. 

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted. That the trustees 
first chosen, according to the third section of this 
act, shall continue in office for three years from the 
day of their election, and immediately after such 
election the said trustees shall be divided by lot into 
three classes, numbered one, two, and three, and the 
seats of the members of the first class shall be va- 
cated at the expiration of the first year, of the mem- 
bers of the second class at the expiration of the second 
year, and the members of the third class at the ex- 
piration of the third year, to the end that the third 
part of the whole number, as nearly as possible, may 
be annually chosen ; and the said trustees, or a ma- 
jority of them, shall, at least one month before the 
expiration of the office of any of the said trustees, 
notify the same in writing to the minister, or, in case 
of his death or absence, to the elders or church-war- 
dens, and in case there shall be no elders or church- 
wardens, then to the deacons or vestry-men of any 
such church, congregation, or society, specifying the 



1 62 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

names of the trustees whose times will expire, and 
the said minister, or, in case of his death or absence, 
one of the said elders or church-wardens, or deacons 
or vestry-men, shall, in manner aforesaid, proceed to 
notify the members of the said church, congregation, 
or society, of such vacancies, and appoint the time 
and place for the election of new trustees to fill up 
the same, which election shall be held at least six 
days before such vacancies shall happen ; and all 
such subsequent elections shall be held and con- 
ducted by the same persons, and in the manner 
above directed, and the result thereof certified by 
them, and such certificate shall entitle the persons 
elected to act as trustees, and in case any trustee 
shall die, or refuse to act, or remove within the year, 
notice thereof shall be given by the trustees, as afore- 
said, and a new election appointed and held, and 
another trustee be elected in his steadf in manner 
aforesaid. 

Sec. 7.* And be it further enacted. That no person 
belonging to any church, congregation, or society, 
intended by the third section of this act, shall be 
entitled to vote at any election succeeding the first, 
until he shall have been a stated attendant on divine 
worship in said church, congregation, or society, at 
least one year before such election, and shall have 
contributed to the support of said church, congrega- 
tion, or society, according to the usages and customs 
thereof, and that the clerk to the said trustees shall 
keep a register of the names of all such persons as 
shall desire to become stated hearers in the said 

* See section as amended in 1875. 



New York. 163 

church, congregation, or society, and shall therein 
note the time when such request was made, and the 
said clerk shall attend all such subsequent elections, 
in order to test the qualifications of such electors, in 
case the same should be questioned. 

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted. That nothing in 
this act contained shall be construed or taken to give 
to any trustee of any church, congregation, or soci- 
ety, the power to fix or ascertain any salary to be 
paid to any minister thereof, but the same shall be 
ascertained by a majority of persons entitled to elect 
trustees, at a meeting to be called for that purpose, 
and such salaries, when fixed, shall be ratified by the 
said trustees, or a majority of them, by an instrument 
in writing, under their common seal, which salary 
shall thereupon be paid by the said trustees out of 
the revenues of such church, congregation, or so- 
ciety. - 

Sec. 9. (This section was amended in 1866, so as 
to read as follows :) And be it further enacted. That 
whenever any religious corporation within this State, 
other than the chartered corporations, shall deem it 
necessary, and for the interest of such religious cor- 
poration, to reduce, or to increase, their number of 
trustees, it shall and may be lawful for any such re- 
ligious corporation to reduce or to increase their 
number of trustees at any annual meeting ; provided, 
that such reduction or increase shall not be such as 
to leave a less number than three, or a larger num- 
ber than nine, trustees in any one of the said relig- 
ious corporations ; provided, that a notice of at least 
two weeks shall be given, at a regular meeting of 



164 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

such society, of the time and place of holding any 
ineeting at which such reduction or increase may be 
proposed. 

Sec. 10. [This section and the fifteenth have been 
virtually repealed.] 

Sec. 1 1. And be it further enacted, That it shall be 
lawful for the chancellor* of this State, upon the ap- 
plication of any rehgious corporation^ in case he shall 
deem it proper, to make an order for the sale of any- 
real estate belonging to such corporation, and to di- 
rect the apphcation of the moneys arising therefrom, 
by the said corporation, to such uses as the same 
corporation, with the consent and approbation of the 
chancellor, shall conceive to be most for the interest 
of the society to which the real estate so sold did 
belong ; provided, that this act shall not extend to 
any of the lands granted by this State for the sup- 
port of the Gospel. 

Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That it shall 
be lawful for every religious corporation created by 
letters patent, under the great seal of the colony of 
New York, to have, hold, and enjoy lands, tenements, 
goods and chattels of the yearly value of three thou- 
sand dollars, although the letters patent by which 
such corporation was created shall contain a clause, 
or clauses, restricting and limiting the annual rev- 
enue and income to a less sum than the said three 
thousand dollars. 

Sec 13. And be it further enacted. That every 
corporation of any church, congregation, or religious 

'•' Any justice of the Supreme Court, or a judge of the County Court, 
may now grant the order for sale. 



New York. 165 

society, heretofore made in pursuance of any law of 
this State, and in conformity to the directions con- 
tained in this act, shall be, and the same is, hereby 
established and confirmed, and such corporation shall 
be deemed to have commenced from the time of re- 
cording such certificate, as aforesaid ; and in case of 
the dissolution of any such corporation, or of any 
corporation hereafter to be formed in pursuance of 
this act, by reason of a non-compliance with the 
directions herein contained, the same may be re- 
incorporated in the manner prescribed by this act, 
at any time within six years after such dissolution, 
and thereupon all the estate, real and personal, 
formerly belonging to the same, shall vest in such 
corporation as if the same had not been dissolved ; 
provided, that in such case the said account and in- 
ventory required to be exhibited by such corpora- 
tion in the cities of New York, Albany, and Sche- 
nectady, shall be exhibited within one month after 
such re-incorporation, and triennially thereafter, as 
above directed. 

Sec. 14. And be it further enacted. That the cor- 
poration of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the 
city of New York shall be, and hereby are, author- 
ized to continue to elect nine trustees of the said 
corporation, in the same manner as if that number 
of trustees had originally been named in the certifi- 
cate of incorporation, and such trustees shall be 
classed, or continue to be classed, in the manner pre- 
scribed by the sixth section of this act. 

Sec. 15. [See note to section tenth.] 

Sec. 16. And be it further enacted, That whenever 



1 66 Laws Relati7tg to Religious Corporations. 

any religious corporation shall be dissolved by means 
of any law now used, or neglect to exercise any of 
the powers necessary for its preservation, it shall be 
lawful for the religious society which was connected 
with such corporation to re-incorporate itself in the 
mode prescribed by this act, and that thereupon all 
the real and personal property which did belong to 
such dissolved corporation at the time of its dissolu- 
tion shall vest in such new corporation for the said 
society. 

Amendment of 1844. 

Whenever there shall have been an omission or 
neglect of any church, congregation, or religious so- 
ciety, at their stated annual meeting, to choose any 
of the trustees, church-wardens, vestry-men, or other 
officers, such church, congregation, or religious so- 
ciety, shall not be deemed or taken to have been 
thereby dissolved ; but the trustees, church-wardens, 
vestry-men, or other officers, in office at the time of 
such omission, shall be deemed and taken to be the 
legal officers of such church, congregation, or society, 
and shall continue to hold their offices until others 
be chosen in their stead. Providedy That elections 
to supply such omissions shall be made within one 
year after their occurrence, respectively, or within 
one year after the passage of this act. 



New York, 167 

Chapter 597. 

AN ACT to amend an Act erititled An act to provide for the incor- 
poration of religious societies^ passed April fifths one thousand 
eight hundred and thirteen. 

Passed June 18, 1875 — three fifths being present. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in 
Senate and Assembly ^ do enact as follows: — 

Sec. I. Section seven of an act, entitled An act 
to provide for the incorporation of religious societies, 
passed April 5, 181 3, is hereby amended so as to read 
as follows : — 

Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That no person 
belonging to any church, congregation, or society, in- 
tended by the third section of this act, shall be en- 
titled to a vote at any election succeeding the first 
until such person shall have been a stated attendant 
on divine worship in said church, congregation, or so- 
ciety, at least one year before such election, and shall 
have contributed to the support of the said church, 
congregation, or society, according to the usages and 
customs thereof, and that the clerk to the said trust- 
ees shall keep a register of the names of all such 
persons as shall desire to become stated hearers in 
the said church, congregation, or society, and shall 
therein note the time when such request was made, 
and the said clerk shall attend all such subsequent 
elections, in order to test the qualifications of such 
electors in case the same should be questioned, ex- 
cept that in the Methodist Episcopal Church in the 
city of Brooklyn, no person shall be entitled to vote 
at any election succeeding the first until such person 



1 68 Laws Relating to Religions Corporations. 

shall have been a member of full age of at least 
twelve months' standing in the local church for which 
the trustees are to be elected. 

Chapter 79. 

AN ACT supple77tentary to chapter sixty of the laws of eighteen hun- 
dred and thirteen^ entitled ''^ An act to provide for the incorporation 
of religious societies. ' ' 

Passed March 1875. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in 
Senate and Assembly ^ do enact as follows : — 

Sec. I. Trustees elected under the provisions of 
section three of chapter sixty of the laws of eighteen 
hundred and thirteen, entitled ''An act to provide 
for the incorporation of religious societies," shall hold 
their offices during the term for which they were 
elected, and until their successors are chosen. 

Sec. 2. Whenever a trustee elected under the pro- 
visions of said section three of the above-mentioned 
act ceases to be a member of the church, congrega- 
tion, or society, by removal or otherwise, or ceases to 
statedly attend upon and support its services, he 
shall at the same time, and for such cause, cease to 
be a trustee, and his place shall be declared vacant 
by a notice of the board of trustees to the church, 
congregation, or society, and said church, congrega- 
tion, or society shall proceed to fill the vacancy, as 
provided for in the above-mentioned act. 

As amended in May 28, 1875. 

Sec. 3. Any religious society, organized under the 
laws of this State, may take and receive by bequest 
or devise any real or personal estate, the net annual 



Nezv York, i6g 

income of which shall not exceed twelve thousand 
dollars, subject, however, to the provisions of chap- 
ter three hundred and sixty of the laws of eight- 
een hundred and sixty, entitled "An act relating to 
wills." 

Sec. 4. The trustees of any church, congregation, 
or religious society, incorporated under said section 
three of the above-mentioned act, shall administer 
the temporalities thereof, and hold and apply the 
estate and property belonging thereto, and the reve- 
nues of the same, for the benefit of said corporation, 
according to the discipline, rules, and usages of the 
denomination to which the church members of the 
corporation belong ; and it shall not be lawful for 
the trustees to divert such estate, property, or reve- 
nues to any other purpose, except toward the support 
and maintenance of any religious, benevolent, or 
other institution connected with such church, con- 
gregation, or religious society. 

Sec. 5. Each and every of the corporations afore- 
said may receive, use, and apply all rents or income 
derived from pews, in addition to the annual in- 
come limited by the aforesaid act, or any amendment 
thereof. 

Sec, 6. The jurisdiction of courts of equity in this 
State is hereby extended over such corporations, as 
far as may be necessary to enforce the provisions of 
this act. 

Sec 7. No religious corporation shall be deemed 
dissolved for any neglect hitherto to exhibit an ac- 
count or inventory of its real and personal estate 
and the annual income thereof, provided that such 



I/O Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

account or inventory shall be exhibited within three 
years from the passage of this act. 

Sec. 8. This act shall take effect immediately. 

Chapter 209. 

AN ACT supplei7ientary b chapter sixty of the laws of eighteen hun- 
dred and thirteen^ entitled ""An act to provide for the incorporation 
of religious societies^ 

Passed April 29, 1875. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in 
Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : — 

Sec I. Any two or more religious corporations, 
incorporated under the provisions of the third section 
of chapter sixty of the laws of eighteen hundred and 
thirteen, entitled '^An Act to provide for the incor- 
poration of religious societies," and the several acts 
amendatory thereof, or supplemental thereto, are 
hereby authorized to unite and consolidate them- 
selves into a single corporation, in the manner fol- 
lowing : — 

Sec. 2, The said corporations may enter into an 
agreement under their respective corporate seals for the 
union and consolidation of the said corporations, set- 
ting forth the terms and conditions thereof, the name 
of the proposed new corporation, the names of the 
persons who shall be its church-wardens and vestry- 
men, minister, elders and deacons and trustees, 
or other officers, as the case may be, until the first 
annual election of the proposed new corporation, and 
fixing the day of its annual election. 

Sec. 3. Each of the said corporations may make 
its separate petition to the Supreme Court for an 



New York, 171 

order for such union and consolidation, setting forth 
in such petition the reasons for such union and con- 
sohdation, the agreement made pursuant to the second 
section of this act, all its property, real and personal, 
all its debts and Habilities, and the amount and 
sources of its annual income. 

Sec. 4. A meeting of each of said corporations, to 
consider and act upon the proposed union and consoli- 
dation, and the agreement and petition therefor, shall 
be called by a notice given in the same manner, and 
for the same length of time, as is provided for notices 
of election of trustees, in the said third section of 
the act hereby amended ; and in case the proposed 
union and consolidation, and the agreement and 
petition therefor, shall receive the approval of three 
fourths of the persons entitled to vote at an election 
of trustees of each of the corporations assembled at 
such meeting or at an adjourned meeting, or a sub- 
sequent meeting called in like manner, then, and not 
otherwise, the proposed union and consolidation may 
be proceeded with, and the petition presented to the 
court. 

Sec. 5. Upon such petitions from each of such cor- 
porations so proposing to be united and consolidated, 
and upon the said agreement, and the proceedings of 
the meetings prescribed in the fourth section, satisfac- 
torily proved or certified, the Supreme Court may, in 
case it shall deem it proper, make an order for the 
union and consoHdation of such corporations, deter- 
mining all the terms, conditions, and provisions there- 
of. All parties interested therein may be heard on 
such petition. 



1/2 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

Sec. 6. When such order is made and entered, 
according to the practice of the court, the said cor- 
porations shall be united and consolidated into one 
corporation, by the name designated in the order, and 
it shall have all the rights and powers, and be sub- 
jected to all the obligations of religious corpora- 
tions under the act to which this is supplementary, 
and the acts amendatory thereof and supplementary 
thereto. 

Sec. 7. And thereupon all the estate, rights and 
property of whatsoever nature, belonging to either of 
said corporations, shall, without further act or deed, 
be vested in and transferred to the new corporation 
as effectually as they were vested in or belonged to the 
former corporations, and the said new corporation 
shall be liable for all the debts and liabilities of the 
former corporations, in the same manner and as effect- 
ually, as if said debts or liabilities had been contracted 
or incurred by it. 

Sec. 8. This act shall take effect immediately. 

Chapter 354. 
AN ACT to amend chapter forty-seven of the lazvs of eighteen 
hundred and twenty -six, entitled ''An act to amend an act entitled 
'An act to p7^ovide for the incorporation of religious societies^ " 
Passed May 15, 1875. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in 
Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : — 

Sec I. Section one of chapter forty-seven of the 
laws of eighteen hundred and twenty-six, entitled 
" An act to amend an act entitled ' An act to pro- 
vide for the incorporation of religious societies,' " is 
hjreby amended so as to read as follows :— 



New York, 173 

Sec. 2. If any church, congregation, or religious 
society, now or hereafter to be incorporated, accord- 
ing to the provisions of the third section of the act 
hereby amended, shall neglect or omit, or have neg- 
lected or omitted, at their stated annual election, to 
choose any one of the three classes of trustees as 
mentioned in the sixth section of the said act, the said 
church, congregation, or religious society shall not be 
deemed and taken to be thereby dissolved : but the 
trustees then or now already chosen shall continue 
to hold their offices until others be chosen in their 
stead ; and whenever such neglect or omission shall 
happen through defect of due notice, or otherwise, 
the trustees of said church, congregation, or religious 
society, or a majority of them, shall immediately 
thereafter give notice thereof, in writing, to the 
minister, or in case of his death or absence, to the 
elders or church- wardens, and in case there shall be 
no elders or church-wardens, then to the deacons or 
vestry- men of any such church, congregation, or so- 
ciety ; and the said minister, or, in case of his death 
or absence, one of the said elders or church-wardens, 
deacons or vestry-men, shall, in the manner prescribed 
in the third section of the said act, proceed to notify 
the members of the said church, congregation, or so- 
ciety of such neglect or omission, and appoint the 
time and place for the election of new trustees to 
remedy the same, of which election at least fifteen 
days' notice shall be given in the manner aforesaid, 
except that it shall be lawful for the religious de- 
nomination known as the ^' United Brethren in 

Christ" to elect their trustees by the Quarterly Con- 
13 



1/4 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

ference of each circuit, station, or mission of said de- 
nomination for full terms, or to fill vacancies in office 
without further notice than the customary notice of 
such Quarterly Conference as required by the rules 
and regulations of such denomination, and the said 
election shall be held and conducted by the same 
persons in the same manner, and the result be cer- 
tified in like manner as is prescribed in and by the 
sixth section of the act hereby amended, and by the 
rules of the " United Brethren Church," and shall have 
the same force and effect as elections held under 
and by virtue of said section, and not otherwise. 

Act passed May 9, 186S. 
PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 

Sec. I. The first section of the act entitled "An 
Act to provide for the Incorporation of Religious So- 
cieties," passed April 5, 181 3, is hereby amended so 
as to read as follows : — 

1. It shall be lawful for not less than six male persons, 
of full age, belonging to any church or congregation 
in communion with the Protestant Episcopal Church 
in this State, not already incorporated, to meet at any 
time at the usual place of public worship of such 
church or congregation, for the purpose of incorpo- 
rating themselves under this act. 

2. A notice of such meeting, specifying its object 
and the time and place thereof, shall be publicly read, 
in the time of morning service, on two Sundays next 
previous thereto, by the rector or officiating minister, 
or, if there be none, by any other person belonging 
to such church or congregation, and shall also be 



New York. 175 

posted in a conspicuous place on the outside door near 
the main entrace to such place of worship. 

3. The rector, or if there be none, or he be neces- 
sarily absent, then one of the church-wardens or ves- 
try-men, or any other person called to the chair, shall 
preside at such meeting, and shall receive the votes. 

4. The persons entitled to vote at such meeting 
shall be the male persons, of full age, belonging to 
the church or congregation, specified as follows, and 
none others : — 

First. Those who have been baptized in the Prot- 
estant Episcopal Church, or who have been received 
therein, either by the right of confirmation, or by re- 
ceiving the holy communion ; or. 

Second. Those who have purchased, and for not 
less than twelve months next prior to such meeting, 
have owned a pew or seat in said church ; or who, 
during the same period of time, have hired and paid 
for a pew or seat in said church ; or who, during the 
whole period aforesaid, have been contributors in 
money to the support of said church. 

5. The persons so qualified shall, at such meeting, 
by a majority of votes, determine, first, the name or 
title by which such church or congregation shall be 
known in law ; second, on what day, in Easter week, 
an annual election for church-wardens and vestry- 
men shall thereafter take place. What number of 
vestry-men, not less than four nor more than eight, 
shall annually be elected, and shall; together with the 
rector (if there be one) and the two church-wardens, 
constitute the vestry of the church. And shall, by a 
majority of votes, elect two church-wardens and the 



176 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

number of vestry-men that it shall have been deter- 
mined are to be annually elected, which church-war- 
dens and vestry-men, thus elected, shall serve until 
the next regular election. 

6. The polls shall continue open for one hour and 
longer, in the discretion of the presiding officer, or, 
if required, by a vote of a majority of voters present. 

7. The presiding officer, together with two other 
persons, shall make a certificate, under their hands 
and seals, of, first, the church-wardens and vestry-men 
so elected ; second, of the day, in Easter week, so 
fixed for the annual election of their successors ; 
third, of the number of vestry-men (not less than four 
nor more than eight) so determined upon to be an- 
nually elected, to constitute part of the vestry ; 
fourth, of the name or title by which such church or 
congregation shall be known in law : which certifi- 
cate, being duly acknowledged, or the execution and 
acknowledgment duly proven before any officer au- 
thorized to take acknowledgments or proof of deeds 
or conveyances of real estate, to be recorded in the 
county where such church, or place of worship of 
such congregation, shall be situated, shall be recorded 
by the clerk of sucli county, or by the officer whose 
duty it is, or may hereafter be made, to record such 
instruments, in the county in which such church or 
place of worship may be situated, in a book to be 
kept by him for such purpose. 

8. The church-wardens and vestry-men so elected, 
and their successors in office, of themselves (but if 
there be a rector, then together with the rector of 
such church or congregation) shall form a vestry, and 



New York, 177 

shall be the trustees of such church or congregation ; 
and they and their such successors shall thereupon, by 
virtue of this act, be a body corporate by the name 
or title expressed in such certificate. 

9. The male persons qualified as aforesaid, pro- 
vided they shall also have belonged to such church 
or congregation for twelve months immediately pre- 
ceding, shall, in every year thereafter, on the day in 
Easter week so fixed for that purpose, elect two 
church-wardens, and as many vestry-men (not less 
than four nor more than eight) as shall have been 
legally determined, to constitute part of the vestry. 

10. Notice shall be given of such election by the 
rector, if there be one, or, if there be none or he be 
absent, by the officiating minister, or by a church- 
warden, for two Sundays next previous to the day so 
fixed, in the time of divine service. 

11. Whenever a vacancy in the board so consti- 
tuted shall happen, by death or otherwise, the vestry 
shall order a special election to supply such vacancy, 
of which notice shall be given, in the time of divine 
service, at least ten days previous thereto. 

12. The notice of any such election, stated or 
otherwise, shall specify the place, day, and hour of 
holding the same. The provisions contained in the 
preceding sixth clause shall apply to all elections. 

13. An election to supply vacancy, and also the 
stated annual election, shall be holden immediately 
after morning service, and at all such elections the 
rector, or, if there be none or he be absent, one of 
the church-wardens selected for the purpose by a 
majority of the duly qualified voters present, or, if no 



178 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

church-warden be present, a vestry-man (selected in 
like manner) shall preside, and receive the votes of 
the electors, and be the returning officer ; and shall 
enter the proceedings in the book of the minutes of 
the vestry, and sign his name thereto, and offer the 
same to as many electors present as he may think 
fit, to be by them also signed and certified. 

14. The church-wardens and vestry-men chosen at 
any of the said elections shall hold their offices until 
the expiration of the year for which they shall be 
chosen, and until others are chosen in their stead ; 
and shall have power to call and induct a rector to 
such church or congregation as often as there shall 
be a vacancy therein, and to fix his salary or compen- 
sation. 

15. No board or meeting of such vestry shall be 
held, unless at least three days' notice thereof shall 
be given in writing, under the hand of the rector or 
one of the church-wardens : except that for the first 
meeting after an election, twenty-four hours' notice 
shall be sufficient ; and no such board shall be com- 
petent to transact any business unless the rector, if 
there be one, and at least one of the church-wardens, 
and a majority of the vestry-men, be present ; but if 
the rector be absent from the State, and shall have 
been so absent for over four calendar months, or if 
the meeting has been called by the rector, and he be 
absent therefrom, the board shall be competent to 
transact all business, if there be present one church- 
warden and a majority of the vestry-men : except 
that, in the absence of the rector, no measure shall 
be taken for effecting a sale or disposition of real 



New York. 179 

property, nor may any sale or disposition of the 
capital or principal of the personal estate of such 
corporation be made, nor any act done which shall 
impair the rights of such rector. 

16. The rector, if there be one, and if not, then 
the church-warden present, or if both the church- 
wardens be present, then the church-warden who 
shall be called to the chair by a majority of votes 
shall preside, and have the casting vote. 

17. Whenever any corporation organized under the 
provisions of this act shall deem it for the interests 
of such corporation to change the number of its vestry- 
men, it shall and may be lawful for such corporation 
to change the same, provided that the number of such 
vestry-men shall not thereby be less than four, nor 
more than eight; and, in order to effect such change, 
the same shall be authorized and approved by the 
vestry, at the regular meeting thereof, and shall then^ 
at the next stated annual election for wardens and 
vestry-men, be submitted to and ratified by a majority 
of the votes of all the qualified voters voting at such 
election ; notice of which proposed change, and that 
the same will be submitted for ratification at such 
election, shall be given at the same time, and in the 
same manner, as is required for notice of the said 
election; and if such change be thus ratified, a certif- 
icate shall be made, setting forth the resolution of the 
vestry, and the proceedings to ratify the same, to- 
gether with the fact of the notice being given as re- 
quired, and shall be acknowledged or proved or re- 
corded, in the same manner as is required for the 
original certificate of organization ; and thereupon 



1 80 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

the number of vestry-men to constitute a part of the 
vestry of such corporation shall be such as shall be 
fixed by the proceedings to effect such change. 
But such change shall not take effect, or be operative, 
until the certificate above mentioned shall have been 
duly recorded. 

Sec. 2. The provisions of the ninth, tenth, eleventh, 
twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, and 
seventeenth clauses of section one of this act shall 
apply to any church or corporation in communion 
with the Protestant Episcopal Church in this State, 
heretofore incorporated under the act hereby 
amended, or under any of the acts amending the 
same ; or under the several acts to provide for the 
incorporation of religious societies, passed April 6, 
1784, March 2y, 1801 ; or the Act for the Relief of 
the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New 
York, passed March 17, 1795 ; or by any special 
charter made or granted before or after July 4, 1776, 
whereof the vestry, at a regular meeting, shall, by 
vote, determine to adopt the same ; and such vote 
shall, at the next ensuing stated annual election for 
wardens and vestry-men, be submitted to, and ratified 
by a majority of the votes of all the qualified voters 
voting at such election ; notice of such vote of the 
vestry, and of the proposed submission of the same 
for ratification, having been given at the same time, 
and in the same manner, as is required by the tenth 
clause of the first section of this act, for notice of elec- 
tion. But such adoption shall not take effect, or be 
operative, until a certificate, embodying a true copy 
of the resolution of the vestry, as entered upon their 



New York. i8i 

minutes, and the proceedings to ratify the same, to- 
gether with the fact of the notice being given as re- 
quired, shall have been acknowledged or proved, and 
shall be recorded, as is required by the foregoing 
seventh clause of section one, for the certificate of 
incorporation. 

Sec. 3. The first section of the act passed March 
5, 1 8 19, entitled '' An Act to Amend the Act entitled 
* An Act to Provide for the Incorporation of Relig- 
ious Societies,* " is hereby repealed. 

Sec. 4. The third section of the act passed Febru- 
ary 15, 1826, entitled "An Act to Amend an KoX 
entitled ' An Act to Provide for the Incorporation of 
Religious Societies,'" passed April 5, 1813, shall not 
apply to any church or congregation in connection 
with the Protestant Episcopal Church in this State. 

Sec. 5. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent 
with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed. 

ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

Act passed March 25, 1863. 

Sec I. It shall be lawful for any Roman Catholic 
Church or congregation, now or hereafter existing in 
this State, to be incorporated according to the pro- 
visions of this act. 

Sec 2. The Roman Catholic archbishop, or bishop 
of the diocese in which such church is erected, or in- 
tended so to be, the vicar-general of such diocese, 
and the pastor of such church for the time being, re- 
spectively, or a majority of them, may select and ap- 
point two laymen, members of such church, and may, 
together with such laymen, sign a certificate, in 



1 82 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

duplicate, showing the name or title by which they, and 
their successors, shall be known and distinguished as 
a body corporate, by virtue of this act : which certif- 
icate shall be duly acknowledged or proved in the 
same manner as conveyances of real estate. 

Sec. 3. One of such certificates shall be filed in the 
office of the Secretary of State, and the other in the 
office of the clerk of the county in which said church 
may be erected, or intended so to be ; and thereupon 
such church or congregation shall be a body corpo- 
rate, by the name or title expressed in such certificate, 
and the persons signing the same shall be the trustees 
thereof. 

Sec. 4. The successor of any such archbishop, bish- 
op, vicar-general, or pastor, respectively, for the time 
being, shall, by virtue of his office, be the trustee of 
such church in place of his predecessor ; and such lay- 
men shall hold their office respectively for one year, 
and whenever the office of such layman shall become 
vacant, by death, removal, resignation, or otherwise, 
his successor shall be appointed in the same manner 
as herein provided for his original selection. 

Sec. 5. The trustees of every such church or congre- 
gation, and their successors, shall have all the powers 
and authority granted to the trustees of any church, 
congregation, or society, by the fourth section of an 
act entitled " An Act to Provide for the Incorporation 
of Rehgious Societies," passed April 5, 1813 ; and 
shall also have the power to fix or ascertain the salary 
to be paid to any pastor or assistant pastor of such 
church. But the whole real and personal estate of 
any such church, exclusive of the church edifice, par- 



New York. 183 

sonage> and school-houses, together with the land on 
which the same may be erected, and burying-places, 
shall not exceeed the annual value or income of three 
thousand dollars. 

Nothing herein contained shall be held or taken 
to repeal, alter, or impair the effect of chapter 360 of 
the laws of i860. 

THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 
Act passed May 23, 1873. 

Sec. I. It shall be lawful for any Baptist Church 
now existing, or that may hereafter be organized in 
this State, to be incorporated according to the pro- 
visions of this act, as follows : — 

Sec. 2. The members of any such church, of full 
age, may assemble at their place of worship, and, by 
a majority of the votes of such members, elect any 
number of persons, not less than three nor more than 
nine, as trustees, at the time and in the manner pro- 
vided for in the third section of this act. 

Sec 3. Public notice shall be given in the congre- 
gation of the meeting for the incorporation of such 
church, and the first election of trustees, under the 
provisions of this act, and also for all subsequent 
meetings for the election of trustees, at least fifteen 
days previous to the time for such incorporation and 
election or elections, and on not less than two suc- 
cessive Sabbaths or other days of public service. 
The object, time, and place of such meeting shall 
be distinctly stated in such notice. 

Sec 4. The trustees so elected shall file, under 
oath, in the office of the clerk or register of the 



184 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

county in which the church is located, a certificate 
of their election, duly signed by the chairman and 
secretary of the meeting at which such election took 
place, and thenceforth said church, organized under 
the provisions of this act, shall be a body corporate 
by the name expressed in the certificate of their in- 
corporation. Such trustees shall hold regular meet- 
ings for business at such time and place as they may 
appoint, and special meetings may be called by any 
three of them ; a majority of the whole number shall 
be a quorum for the transaction of business, and a 
majority vote shall decide any question. 

Sec. 5. Whenever a trustee, by removal or other- 
wise, ceases to be a member of such church, or, if 
not a member, ceases to attend or to support its 
worship, he shall at the same time cease to act as a 
trustee, and his place shall be declared vacant by an 
official notice of the board of trustees to the church, 
and a new election shall be ordered to fill such va- 
cancy, as provided in section three of this act. 

Sec. 6. All the provisions of the act entitled "An 
Act for the Incorporation of Religious Societies," 
and the several acts amendatory thereof, so far as 
they relate to the term of service and the powers 
and duties of trustees, shall apply to the trustees of 
churches which shall be organized or incorporated 
pursuant to the provisions of this act, so far as the 
same are not in conflict or inconsistent therewith. 

Sec. 7. This act shall take effect immediately. 



New York, 185 

INCORPORATION OF A PRESIDING ELDER'S DISTRICT OF 
THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

Chapter 265, Laws of 1867. 

Sec. I. The presiding elder and a majority of the 
district stewards, appointed according to the Disci- 
pline of the Methodist Episcopal Church, residing 
in any ecclesiastical district in this State, erected by 
an Annual Conference of said church as a presiding 
elder's district, may make, sign, and acknowledge 
before some officer competent to take the acknowl- 
edgment of deeds, and file in the office of the clerk 
of any county in such district, and a duplicate there- 
of in the office of the Secretary of State, a certificate in 
writing, in which shall be stated the corporate name 
of such corporation ; the names, residences, and offi- 
cial relation to the district of the persons signing 
such certificate ; the number of trustees, not less 
than three nor more than nine, who shall manage 
the property and affairs of said corporation for the 
first year, and their names ; and in which certificate 
it shall be further stated in substance that the object 
of such corporation is to secure the benefits of this 
act. 

Sec 2. When such certificate shall be filed as 
aforesaid, the persons who shall have made, signed, 
and acknowledged the same, and their successors, 
shall be and become a body politic and corporate, 
by the name stated in such certificate ; and such 
corporation shall have succession, and possess the 
general powers conferred on corporations, by the 
eighteenth chapter of the first part of the Revised 



1 86 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

Statutes of this State, and shall also have power to 
take, by gift, grant, or purchase, any estate, real or 
personal, for the use of, and as a residence for, the 
presiding elder for the time being of such district 
and his successors in office, and from time to time 
to sell and convey the same, and re-invest the pro- 
ceeds thereof for a like purpose,, as the trustees of 
such corporation, with the approval of the Annual 
Conference having jurisdiction over the district, may 
direct ; but the annual income or value of such real 
and personal estate shall not exceed five thousand 
dollars. 

Sec. 3. Any real estate heretofore conveyed for 
the use of, or as a residence for, a presiding elder of 
any such district, and his successors in office, may be 
conveyed by the trustees holding the title thereof to 
a corporation formed as aforesaid for the district in 
which such estate is situated ; whereupon the title 
thereto shall vest in such corporation for the pur- 
poses defined by this act. 

Sec 4. The district stewards of any presiding eld- 
er s district, at their annual meeting, may appoint 
from time to time trustees for any such corporation 
within tlieir district to supply the places of those 
whose terms shall expire, and to fill any vacancies in 
the number of such trustees, and trustees of any 
such corporation shall respectively hold their offices 
for one year, and until others are appointed in their 
places. 

Sec. 5. This act shall take effect immediately. 



New York. 187 

Chapter 408. 

AN ACT in relation to parsonages in certain cases. 

Passed May 21, 1875. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in 
the Senate and Assembly , do enact as follows : — 
Sec. I. In all cases now existing, or which may 
hereafter exist, in which any priest, clergyman, or 
minister of the gospel, shall serve or minister to two 
or more churches, congregations, or religious societies, 
incorporated under the provisions of the act entitled 
"An Act to provide for the Incorporation of Religious 
Societies,'* passed April fifth, eighteen hundred and 
thirteen, and the acts amendatory thereof, it shall be 
lawful for such churches, congregations, or religious 
societies to have, hold, and own a lot or lots or farm, 
with such building or buildings thereon, as the said 
churches, congregations, or religious societies may 
deem necessary or proper for the use of such priest, 
clergyman, or minister of the gospel as shall serve 
or minister to such churches, congregations, or relig- 
ious societies, to be occupied and used by such priest, 
clergyman, or minister of the gospel as a parsonage 
during the time he shall serve or minister to such 
churches, congregations, or religious societies. 

Sec. 2. After the passage of this act the said 
churches, congregations, or religious societies shall 
have power to elect three trustees, each being a 
member of one of said churches, congregations, or 
religious societies, to be denominated parsonage trust- 
ees, to take and hold the title to such lot or lots, or 
farm as may be purchased for parsonage purposes, 



1 88 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

as trustees of, and for the use and benefit of said 
churches, congregations, or religious societies. 

Sec. 3. The priest, clergyman, or minister of the 
gospel so serving or ministering to such churches, 
congregations, or religious societies, shall designate 
some day other than Sunday, and the hour of the 
day, when the election of the first trustees shall be 
held, at the place where each of such churches, con- 
gregations, or religious societies statedly meets for 
worship. Notice of the time of holding such election 
shall then be given to each of such churches, con- 
gregations, or religious societies, in the manner pre- 
scribed by the third section of the act above men- 
tioned. Notice shall also be given, at the same time 
and in the same manner, of the place where the board 
of canvassers, created by this act, shall meet to can- 
vass the votes given at the election for trustees. At 
the time so appointed for such election, said churches, 
congregations, or religious societies shall, by a plural- 
ity of voices, elect one of their members chairman of 
such meeting, and the clerk of such church, congre- 
gation, or religious society, if present, shall be clerk 
of such meeting ; but if such clerk shall be absent, 
then such church, congregation, or religious societies 
shall, by plurality of voices, elect one of their mem- 
bers clerk for the time being. 

Sec. 4. Said election of trustees shall be by ballot, 
and the three persons for whom the highest number 
of ballots shall be cast shall be the first trustees. 
The chairman of each of such meetings shall preside 
thereat, receive the ballots, preserve order, and see 
that the business before the meeting is conducted in 



Nezv York. 189 

an orderly and legal manner. The clerk of each 
meeting shall keep a record of the proceedings thereof, 
and also a poll-list, containing the names of all the 
persons who shall vote at such election. All persons 
who shall be entitled to vote for trustees of such 
church, congregation, or religious society may law- 
fully vote at such election, and no others. The 
chairman and clerk of each meeting shall canvass 
the votes cast at such election, and make and sign a 
certificate thereof setting forth the time and place at 
which such election was held, the whole number of 
votes cast, the names of all persons voted for, and 
the number of votes given for each. 

Sec. 5. The chairman of any or either of such 
meetings may, by a writing signed by him, appoint 
the clerk of such meeting a canvasser in his place 
and stead ; such chairmen as do not appoint the 
clerk a canvasser in his stead, and such clerks as 
shall or may be appointed canvassers as above men- 
tioned, shall meet at the place designated in the 
notice given for such election, on the day following 
such election, at three o'clock in the afternoon of 
that day, and shall form themselves into a board of 
canvassers by the election of one of their number 
chairman of said board, and another one of their 
members secretary of said board, and shall then, from 
all the certificates of the elections held the day be- 
fore, ascertain the whole number of votes cast for 
parsonage trustees, the names of all the persons voted 
for, and the number of votes given for each, and shall 
declare the three persons having the largest number 

of votes elected trustees. Thev shall then proceed 
14 



IQO Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

to divide said trustees, by lot, into three classes, one 
of whom shall hold office for one year, one for two 
years, and one for three years ; and thereafter one 
parsonage trustee shall be elected each year, at the 
time, and in the manner, and upon the notice pre- 
scribed for the election of the first parsonage trust- 
ees. They shall then designate the name by which 
such parsonage trustees shall be known and called, 
as the parsonage trustees of a certain circuit, [naming 
it,] or of a certain place, [naming it,] and its vicinity. 

Sec. 6. The secretary of the said board of can- 
vassers shall keep a record of all the proceedings of 
said board in a book to be provided for that purpose, 
and shall also file and preserve all certificates of elec- 
tion on which such board shall act. He shall also 
make a certificate of the election of the persons 
chosen trustees, of their classification and the time 
each is to serve, which shall be signed by the chair- 
man of such board and by such secretary, and shall 
be acknowledged by them in such manner as deeds 
are by law required to be acknowledged to entitle 
them to be recorded. Such certificate and acknowl- 
edgment shall then be recorded in the office of the 
clerk of the county or counties in which any one of 
such churches, congregations, or religious societies 
may be located. 

Sec. 7. Upon the recording of such certificate the 
said trustees and their successors shall be a body 
politic and corporate, by the name stated in such cer- 
tificate, and by that name they and their successors 
shall and may have succession, and shall be capable, 
in law, of suing and being sued, and may have and use 



New York, 19 1 

a common seal, and may alter and change the same 
at pleasure ; and by their corporate name be capable 
of receiving, purchasing, and holding for the use and 
benefit of such churches, congregations, or religious 
societies, such real and personal estate as such 
churches, congregations, or religious societies may 
deem necessary or proper to purchase for the use of 
the priest, clergymen, or ministers of the gospel, who 
shall serve or minister to them, as aforesaid, and to 
manage, improve, protect and preserve said property. 

Sec. 8. In case it shall happen that an election of 
trustees shall not be held on the day designated for 
such election, the corporation shall not for that reason 
be dissolved, but such election may be held on some 
other day, by giving notice of such election, in the 
manner prescribed for the first election of trustees, 
but the time of service of the trustee so elected shall 
expire at the same time his term would have expired 
in case he had been elected at the proper time. 

Sec. 9. In case of the death or removal from the 
county of any one or more of said trustees, the re- 
maining trustees or trustee may, by writing under 
their or his hand and seal, appoint a trustee or trust- 
ees in the place and stead of the trustee or trustees 
so dying, or removing from the county, until the 
time appointed for the next election, when a trustee 
or trustees shall be elected in the place or places of 
him or them so dying or removing, in the same man- 
ner as other trustees are required to be elected. 

Sec. 10. This act shall take effect immediately. 



192 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 



Chapter 26, Laws of 1874. 

AN ACT authorizing the formation of corporations to secure camp- 
grounds^ and other property connected therewith^ for the use of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in 
Senate and Assembly, do enact as follozvs : — 

Sec. I. The presiding elder of any district, or the 
presiding elders of any number of districts, and a 
majority of the district stewards of any district or 
districts, appointed according to the Discipline of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, residing in any ecclesi- 
astical district or districts in this State, erected by an 
Annual Conference of said church as a presiding 
elder's district or districts, may make, sign, and ac- 
knowledge, before some officer competent to take 
the acknowledgment of deeds, and file in the office 
of the clerk of any county in such district or dis- 
tricts, and a duplicate thereof in the office of the 
Secretary of State, a certificate in writing, in which 
shall be stated the corporate name of said corpora- 
tion ; the names, residences, and official relation to 
the district of the person signing such certificate ; the 
number of trustees, not less than three nor more 
than nine, who shall manage the property and affairs 
of said corporation for the first year, and their names, 
and in which certificate it shall be further stated, in 
substance, that the object of such corporation is to 
secure the benefits of this act. 

Sec. 2. The district stewards of any presiding 
elder's district, at their annual meeting, may appoint 
from time to time trustees for any such corporation 



New York. 193 

within their district, to supply the places of those 
whose terms of office shall expire, and to fill any 
vacancies in the number of such trustees. And 
when two or more districts join such corporation, 
then the district stewards of each district, at their 
annual meeting, may appoint their equal portion of 
said trustees ; but in case the number of trustees can- 
not be equally divided between the districts, then 
the district in which the camp-ground is located may 
appoint such trustee. 

Sec. 3. When such certificate shall be filed as 
aforesaid, the persons who shall have made, signed, 
and acknowledged the same, and their successors, 
shall be and become a body politic and corporate, by 
the name stated in such certificate ; and such corpo- 
ration shall have succession, and possess the general 
powers conferred on corporations by the eighteenth 
chapter of the first part of the Revised Statutes of 
this State ; and shall also have power to take, by gift, 
grant, or purchase, any estate, real or personal, the 
annual income of which shall not exceed ten thou- 
sand dollars, for the use of the authorities of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church representing said dis- 
trict or districts as a camp-ground for camp-meeting 
purposes, and from time to time to sell and convey 
the same, and to re-invest the proceeds thereof for a 
like purpose, as the trustees of such corporation, 
with the approval of the Annual Conference having 
jurisdiction over the district or districts, may direct. 
And all the provisions of article seven, title eight, 
chapter twenty, part first of the Revised Statutes of 
this State, entitled "of the disturbance of religious 



194 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

meetings/' shall apply to religious meetings held in 
pursuance of this act, in accordance with the usages 
of said Methodist Episcopal Church. And the trust- 
ees of any such camp-ground appointed according to 
the provisions of this act, and for the purpose named 
in this act, and their successors in office, are hereby 
clothed with the same powers as are conferred upon 
peace officers in and by said article seven. 

Sec. 4. Any real estate heretofore conveyed for 
camp-meeting purposes may be conveyed by the 
trustees holding the title thereof to a corporation 
formed as aforesaid, whereupon the title thereto shall 
vest in such corporation for the purpose defined in 
this act. 

Sec. 5. Districts may unite with such corporation 
by conforming to this act, and appending their certifi- 
cates to the original ones. 

Sec. 6. This act shall take effect immediately. 

Chapter 325. 

AN ACT to amend chapter twenty-six of the laws of eighteen hun- 
dred and seventy-four^ ejititled '' An act authorizing the formatioit 
of corporations to secure camp-grounds and other pi^operty connected 
therewith for the use of the Methodist Episcopal Churchy 

Passed May 14, 1875. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in 
Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : — 

Sec. r. Section two of chapter twenty-six of the 
laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-four, entitled 
" An act authorizing the formation of corporations to 
secure camp-grounds, and other property connected 
therewith, for the use of the Methodist Episcopal 



New York, 19S 

Church," is hereby amended so as to read as fol- 
lows : — 

Sec. 2. Whenever in forming any corporation un- 
der this act a greater number of trustees than nine 
shall be desired, the number of trustees shall be 
specified in the articles of incorporation, which shall 
be not less than nine nor more than twenty-one, and 
shall specify in said articles the names of the per- 
sons as trustees to manage the affairs of said corpo- 
ration until others are elected in their places ; said 
trustees shall be divided by lot info three classes, the 
first class to hold their office for one year ; the sec- 
ond class to hold their office for two years ; the 
third class to hold their office for three years. The 
said corporation, when organized, and any camp- 
ground or camp-meeting association heretofore or- 
ganized under the laws of the State of New York, 
shall have power to adopt a constitution, and to pre- 
scribe rules and regulations not inconsistent with the 
constitution and the laws of the State or of the 
United States, for the government thereof, and for 
the election of trustees, and its officers. One third 
of the trustees shall be annually elected, and vacan- 
cies filled in such manner as the constitution of said 
corporation shall prescribe. When the camp-grounds 
proposed to be selected by such corporation shall be 
situated upon or near the borders of this State, per- 
sons residing out of the jurisdiction of this State 
may be permitted to join in and become members of 
said corporation, and shall be eligible to be elected 
officers thereof When the number of trustees do 
not exceed nine, or no constitution is adopted by the 



196 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

corporation prescribing the mode of elections of its 
trustees and officers, then the district stewards of any 
presiding elders district, at their annual meeting, 
may appoint, from time to time, trustees for such 
corporation within their district to supply the place 
of those whose term of office shall expire, and to fill 
vacancies in the number of trustees. And when two 
or more districts join in such corporation, then the 
district stewards of each district, at their annual meet- 
ing, may appoint their equal proportion of said trust- 
ees. But in case the number of trustees cannot be 
equally divided between the districts, then the dis- 
trict in which the camp-ground is located may ap- 
point such trustees. 

Sec. 2. All restrictions imposed upon such corpo- 
rations, heretofore organized under any law of this 
State, relating to the amount of real or personal 
estate, or the value thereof, which such corporation 
may hold, are hereby removed, provided the entire 
annual income shall not exceed the sum authorized 
by section three of the act hereby amended, unless 
by their charters they are empowered to hold a larger 
amount. Whenever any camp-ground association 
shall own land on any of the navigable waters of the 
State of New York, to be used for camp-ground pur- 
poses only, the said association shall have authority 
to regulate the landing of any person, or vessel, on 
said wharves, piers, or shore, during the holding of 
religious services, and may also regulate or prohibit 
the use of said wharves and piers, or shore, during 
said services, by any person or vessel. 

Sec 3. This act shall take effect immediately. 



New York, 197 



INCORPORATION OF PRESBYTERIES. 

Passed May 17, 1875. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in 
Senate aiid Assembly^ do enact as follows : — 

Sec. I. It shall be lawful for any presbytery, now 
or hereafter to be constituted or established, not al- 
ready incorporated, at any stated meeting thereof, by 
plurality of voices, to elect any number of discreet 
persons, not less than three nor exceeding nine in num- 
ber, as trustees to take charge of the real estate and 
property belonging thereto, and to transact all affairs 
relating to the temporalities thereof. And the moder- 
ator and stated clerk of said presbytery shall, imme- 
diately thereafter, certify, under their hands and seals, 
the names of the persons elected as trustees for such 
presbytery, in which certificate the name or title by 
which the said trustees and their successors shall for- 
ever thereafter be called or known shall be particu- 
larly mentioned and described ; which said certificate, 
being duly acknowledged or proved before an officer 
authorized by law to take the proof or acknowledg- 
ment of deeds of real estate, by said moderator and 
stated clerk, shall be recorded by the clerk of one of 
the counties situated, wholly or in part, within the 
bounds of said presbytery, in the book where the 
clerk is required by law to record certificates of the 
organization of religious societies, and such trustees 
and their successors shall thereupon, by virtue of this 



1 98 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

act, be a body corporate, by the name or title expressed 
in such certificate. 

Sec. 2. The said corporation shall, in law, be capa- 
ble of taking for religious, educational, and charitable 
purposes, by gift, devise, bequest, grant, or purchase, 
and of holding, conveying, and otherwise disposing of 
the same from time to time, all personal and real 
estate held for the benefit of any such presbytery, at 
the time the same shall become incorporated or which 
had then been or may thereafter, for the purpose of 
any such presbytery and in the promotion of its re- 
ligious, educational, or charitable purposes, be given, 
devised, bequeathed or granted, to any such corpora- 
tion by its name or for the religious, educational, and 
charitable use thereof, or which may, in any manner, 
have accrued or shall accrue from the interest, income, 
or use of such real and personal estate ; providedy 
that the yearly mcome received from the property of 
any such corporation shall not exceed the sum of 
ten thousand dollars. 

Sec. 3. Whenever any church, in connection with 
any such presbytery, shall become extinct, by reason 
of the death or removal of its members, it shall be 
lawful for such corporation to take possession of the 
temporalities belonging to the society formed in con- 
nection with such extinct church, and manage or 
dispose of the same, and apply the proceeds thereof to 
any of the objects mentioned in the second section of 
this act. 

Sec. 4. The management and disposal of affairs and 
property of such corporation shall be in the hands of 
the trustees thereof ; and which trustees shall hold 



New York. 199 

their office at the pleasure of the presbytery elect- 
ing them, and all vacancies shall be filled by the pres- 
bytery. 

Sec. 5. This act shall take effect immediately. 



DISSOLUTION OF SOCIETIES. 
Chapter 424. Laws of 1872. 

Sec I. Whenever any religious society incorpo- 
rated by law shall cease to act in its corporate 
capacity, and keep up the religious services, it shall 
be lawful for the Supreme Court of this State, upon 
application of a majority of the trustees thereof incor- 
porated by law, except in the city and county of New 
York, in case said court shall deem it proper to do so, 
to order and decree a dissolution of such religious 
society, and for that purpose to order and direct a 
sale and conveyance of any and all property belonging 
to such society ; and after providing for the ascertain- 
ing and payment of the debts of such society, and the 
necessary cost and expenses of such sale and pro- 
ceedings for dissolution, so far as the proceeds of 
such sale shall be sufficient to pay the same, such 
court may order and direct any surplus of such pro- 
ceedings remaining, after paying such debts, costs, 
and expenses, to be devoted and applied to any such 
religious, benevolent, or charitable objects or purposes 
as the said trustees may indicate by their application 
and the said court may approve. 

Sec 2. Such appHcation to said court shall be 
made by petition, duly verified by said trustees, which 
petition shall state the particulars or causes why such 



200 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

sale and dissolution are sought ; the situation, con- 
dition, and estimated value of the property of said 
society or corporation, and the particular object or 
purposes to which it is proposed to devote any surplus 
of the proceeds of such property, and such petition 
shall in all cases be accompanied with proof that 
notice of the time and place of such intended applica- 
tion to said court has been duly published once in 
each week, for at least four weeks successively next 
preceding such application, in a newspaper pubhshed 
in the county where such society is located. 

Sec. 3. In case there shall be no trustees of such re- 
ligious society residing in the county in which such so- 
ciety is located, such application may be made, and 
such proceedings taken by a majority of the members 
of such religious society residing in such county. 

Sec 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 

Form of Certificate of Incorporation of a Religious 

Society. 



State of New York, , 
County, ^ ^^• 






We, the undersigned, two of the members of the 
religious society hereinafter mentioned, do hereby 
certify that on the day of , the per- 
sons of full age belonging to a religious society in 
which divine worship is maintained according to the 
rites of the Church, and not already incor- 
porated, met at the place of public worship hereto- 
fore occupied by said society in the town of , 

in said county, for the purpose of incorporating them- 



New York. 201 

selves, and did then and there elect by plurality of 

voices [A. B., C. D., E. F., not less than three nor 

more than nine] as trustees of said society ; and the 

said persons did then and there determine by like 

plurality of voices that the said corporation should 

forever hereafter be called and known by the name 

or title of 

Witness our hands and seals as presiding officers 

of the meeting aforesaid, this day of , 

18 . 

A. B. [Seal] 

C. D. [Seal.] 

Proof of Execution of the foregoing Certificate : — 

County, ss. : 



On this day of personally appeared 

before me (A. B. and C. D.) to me known, who ac- 
knowledged that they executed the above-named cer- 
tificate for the purposes therein mentioned. 

E. F., Justice of the Peace, 
{or Notary Public) 

DISTURBING RELIGIOUS MEETINGS. 
Revised Statutes, 1859, Part I, Chapter 20— Article 7. 

Sec. 58. No person shall willfully disturb, inter- 
rupt, or disquiet any assemblage of people met for 
religious worship, by profane discourse, by rude and 
indecent behavior, or by making a noise either within 
the place of worship or so near it as to disturb the 
order and solemnity of the meeting ; nor shall any 
person, within two miles of the place where any 



202 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

religious society shall be actually assembled for re- 
ligious worship, expose to sale or gift any ardent or 
distilled liquors, or keep open any huckster shop in 
any other place, inn, store, or grocery than such as 
shall have been duly licensed, and in which such 
person shall have usually resided or carried on busi- 
ness ; nor shall any person within the distance afore- 
said exhibit any shows or plays, unless the same shall 
have been duly licensed by the proper authority ; nor 
shall any person within the distance aforesaid pro- 
mote, aid, or be engaged in any racing of animals, or 
in any gaming of any description ; nor shall any per- 
son obstruct the free passage of any highway to any 
place of public worship within the distance afore- 
said. 

Sec. 59. Whoever shall violate either of the pro- 
visions of the foregoing section may be convicted 
summarily before any justice of the peace of the 
county, or any mayor, recorder, alderman, or other 
magistrate of any city where the offense shall be 
committed, and on such conviction shall forfeit a 
sum not exceeding twenty-five dollars, for the bene- 
fit of the poor of the county. 

Sec. 60. It shall be the duty of all sheriffs and 
their deputies, coroners, marshals, constables, and 
other peace officers, who may be present at the 
meetings of any assembly for religious worship 
which shall be interrupted or disturbed in the man- 
ner herein prohibited, to apprehend the offender, and 
take him before some justice of the peace, or other 
magistrate authorized to convict as aforesaid, to be 
proceeded against according to law. 



New York. 203 

Sec. 61. All judges, mayors, recorders, aldermen, 
and justices of the peace within their respective ju- 
risdictions, upon their own view of any person of- 
fending against the provisions of this article, may 
order the offenders into the custody of any officer in 
the preceding section named, or of any official mem- 
ber of the church or society so assembled and dis- 
turbed, for safe keeping until he shall be let to bail, 
or a trial of such offense be had. 

Sec. 62. If any person convicted of any of the 
offenses herein prohibited shall not immediately pay 
the penalty incurred, with the costs of the conviction, 
or give security to the satisfaction of the officer be- 
fore whom the conviction shall be had, for the pay- 
ment of said penalty and costs within twenty days 
thereafter, he shall be committed by warrant to the 
common jail of the county until the same be paid, or 
for such term, not exceeding thirty days, as shall be 
specified in the warrant. 

Sec. 63. From and after the passage of this act, it 
shall and may be lawful for any person who may be 
complained of for a violation of any of the provisions 
of the article hereby amended, before the court shall 
proceed to investigate the merits of the cause, to de- 
mand of such court that he may be tried by a jury. 
Upon such demand, it shall be the duty of such 
court to issue a venire to any constable of the county 
or marshal of the city where the offense is to be 
tried, commanding such officer to summon the same 
number of jurors, and in the same manner as is pro- 
vided for the summoning of jurors before a Court of 
Special Sessions. The said court shall proceed to 



204 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

empanel a jury for the trial of said cause in the 
same mannner, and shall be subject to all the rules 
and regulations prescribed in the act providing for 
trials by jury in courts of Special Sessions. [1834, 
chap. 78.] 

Sec. 64. In addition to the costs allowed by law 
for prosecution under the article hereby amended, 
all the costs consequent upon a trial by jury shall be 
added, and paid by the party offending in case of 
conviction, and shall be the same as is allowed by 
law in civil cases. 



Chapter XXVI.— North Carolina. 

(Battle's) Public Statutes, 1ST3. -Chapter 101. 

Donations — Vacant Lands — Societies may appoint Trustees — How 
Removed — Penalties for Obstructing the way to Places of W^orship — 
Exhibitions — Sale of Liquor — Quakers may wear Hats in Court. 

Sec. I. All glebes, lands, and tenements heretofore 
purchased, given, or devised for the support of any 
particular ministry or mode of worship, and all 
churches and other houses built for the purpose of 
public worship, and all lands and donations of any 
kind of property or estate that have been or may be 
given, granted, or devised to any church or religious 
denomination, rehgious society or congregation within 
the State for their respective use, shall be and remain 
forever to the use and occupancy of that church or 
denomination, society or congregation, for which the 
said glebes, lands, tenements, property and estate 



North Carolina, 205 

were so purchased, given, granted, or devised, or for 
which the said churches, chapels, or other houses of 
public worship were built, and the estate therein shall 
be deemed and held to be absolutely vested, as between 
the parties thereto, in the trustees respectively of the 
said churches, denominations, societies, and congre- 
gations for their several use, according to the intent 
expressed in the conveyance, gift, grant, or will ; and 
in case there shall be no trustees, then in the said 
churches, denominations, societies, and congregations 
respectively, according to such intent. 

Sec. 2. All houses and edifices erected for pubHc 
worship on vacant lands, or on lands of the State, not 
for other purposes intended or appropriated, together 
with two acres adjoining the same, shall hereafter be 
held and kept sacred for divine worship, to and for 
the use of the society by which the same was origin- 
ally established. 

Sec. 3. The conference, synod, convention, or other 
ecclesiastical body representing any church or relig- 
ious denomination within the State, as also the relig- 
ious societies and congregations within the State, may 
from time to time, and at any time, appoint in such 
manner as such body, society, or congregation may 
deem proper, a suitable number of persons as trust- 
ees for such church, denomination, religious society, 
or congregation, who and their successors shall have 
power to receive donations, and to purchase, take, 
and hold property, real and personal, in trust for 
such church or denomination, relio:ious societv or 
congregation ; provided, however, that, besides such 

lands and lots as may be especially set apart and ap- 
15 



2o6 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

propriated to divine worship, no church or denomina- 
tion, by virtue of this chapter, shall have to their own 
use lands of a greater yearly value than six thousand 
dollars ; and no single congregation or society, lands 
of a greater yearly value than four hundred dollars, 
and said lands shall be subject to taxation. 

Sec. 4. The body appointing may remove such 
trustees, or any of them, and fill all vacancies caused 
by death or otherwise ; and the said trustees and 
their successors may sue and be sued in all proper 
actions for or on account of the donations or prop- 
erty so held or claimed by them, and for and on ac- 
count of any matter relating thereto, and they shall 
be accountable to the said churches, denominations, 
societies, and congregations for the use and manage- 
ment of said property, and shall surrender it to any 
person authorized to demand it. 

Sec. 5. If any person shall maliciously stop up or 
obstruct the way leading to any place of public wor- 
ship, or to any spring or well commonly used by the 
congregation, he shall, for every such offense, forfeit 
and pay twenty dollars. 

Sec 6. If any person shall bring within half a mile 
of any place where the people are assembled for di- 
vine worship, and stop for exhibition, any stud horse 
or jackass, or shall bring within that distance any 
natural or artificial curiosities, and there exhibit them, 
he shall forfeit and pay, to any one who will warrant 
therefor, the sum of twenty dollars ; provided^ that 
nothing herein contained shall be construed to pro- 
hibit such exhibitions at any time if made within the 
limits of any incorporated town, or without such lim- 



North Carolina, 207 

its, if made before the hour of ten o'clock in the fore- 
noon, or after three in the afternoon. 

Sec. 7. No person, licensed keepers of taverns and 
retailers excepted, (and they only when they shall sell 
at their taverns or shops,) during the progress of re- 
ligious exercises, at any place where divine service 
may then be celebrated, shall sell within one mile of 
such place any spirituous liquor, or any liquor of 
which spirituous Uquor shall be the chief ingredient ; 
nor shall any person, the keepers of licensed stores 
only excepted, during such time, and within that dis- 
tance of such place, be engaged in the occupation of 
selling, or offering to sell, any article of traffic, pre- 
pared food and provender only excepted ; and if any 
person shall offend against this or the preceding sec- 
tion, he shall forfeit and pay to any one who will war- 
rant therefor the sum of twenty dollars. 

Sec. 8. If any person shall be intoxicated, or shall 
quarrel, fight, or be guilty of any other disorderly 
behavior, at a church, or other place appointed for 
divine worship, during the time the people shall be 
there assembled for such worship, he shall for each 
offense forfeit and pay twenty dollars. 

Sec 9. The penalties incurred for offenses created 
by this chapter shall be for the use of the poor of 
the county, if not otherwise provided ; and on infor- 
mation thereof, before any justice of the peace of the 
county wherein they may be committed, he shall 
issue a warrant against the offender for the penalty 
incurred; and if there shall be an appeal from the 
judgment thereon, the case shall be prosecuted by 
the proper officer of the State. 



2o8 Laws Relating to Religions Corporations. 

Sec. 10. The people called Quakers may wear 
their hats in courts of judicature or elsewhere, ac- 
cording to the custom of their sect. 



Chapter XXVII.—Ohio. 

Swan and ChritcMeld's Eevised Statutes, 1870.— Chapter 29. 

What Societies may Incorporate— 7Certificates to be Recorded — 
Repeal of Acts of 1858 and i860 — Sale of Real Estate — Disturbance 
of Religious Meetings — Property of Disturbers Forfeited. 

The following form includes the amendments passed 
January 26, 1865. 

Sec 83. That from and after the passage of this 
act, it shall be lawful for any religious sect, denomin- 
ation, or association, fire company, or any literary, 
scientific, or benevolent association, other than col- 
leges, universities, academies, or seminaries within 
this State, or having a central or principal place of 
meeting or business therein, to elect, at a meeting of 
a majority of any organized synod, presbytery, con- 
ference, convention, church, parish, or other religious 
or ministerial association, fire company, Hterary, sci- 
entific, or benevolent association as aforesaid, any 
number of their members, not less than three, to 
serve as trustees or directors, who shall hold their 
office during the pleasure of the society or associa- 
tion ; provided, that when any such synod, presby- 
tery, conference, convention, church, parish, or other 
religious association aforesaid, has heretofore elected 
any number of persons, not less than three, to serve 



Ohio, 209 

as directors or trustees, holding their office during 
the pleasure of such society or association, such per- 
sons shall be invested with the powers, privileges, 
and immunities granted by the provisions of this act, 
upon their being recorded by the recorder of the 
proper county, a proper certificate of the election of 
such persons, and the corporate name given to the 
same by such synod, presbytery, conference, church, 
parish, or other religious association, to be made by 
its clerk, secretary, or other like officer, together 
with the certificate of the said directors or trustees, 
or a majority of them, of their acceptance of the pro- 
visions of this act, or provided that where, by the laws 
or regulations of any such synod, presbytery, confer- 
ence, convention, church, parish, or other association 
aforesaid, now or hereafter organized, any members 
thereof less than three, have charge of property, or 
concerns thereof, such less number of members, and 
their successors, shall be invested with the powers, 
privileges, and immunities granted to three trustees 
or directors by the provisions of this act, upon their 
being recorded by the recorder of the proper county, 
the proper certificate of the election of such members 
and the corporate name adopted by such synod, pres- 
bytery, conference, convention, church, parish, or other 
association to be made by their clerk, secretary, or 
other like officer. 

Sec. 84. That the clerk, secretary, or like officer 
shall make a true record of the proceedings of the 
meeting provided for by the sixty-sixth section of this 
act, certify and deliver the same to the recorder of the 
county in which such meeting shall be held, or in which 



2IO Laws Relating to Religious Corporatio7ts, 

the principal property of such church, fire company, 
synod, presbytery, conference, convention, parish, or 
other rehgious or benevolent association shall be 
situated, or in which their principal enterprise or 
business is carried on, together with the name by 
which such church, fire company, synod, presbytery, 
conference, convention, parish, or other religious or 
benevolent association, shall thereafter desire to be 
known ; and it shall be the duty of such county re- 
corder in this State, immediately upon the receipt of, 
such certified statement, to record the same in a 
book of record, to be kept by him, provided for that 
purpose, at the expense of his county, for which 
service he may demand and receive the sum of ten 
cents for every one hundred words ; and from and 
after making such record by the county recorder, the 
said trustees or directors, and their associated mem- 
bers and successors, shall be invested with the pow- 
ers, privileges, and immunities incident to aggregate 
corporations ; and a certified transcript of the record 
herein authorized to be made by the county re- 
corder shall be deemed and taken, in all courts and 
places whatsoever in this State, as evidence of the 
existence of such association and corporation. 

Sec. 85. The trustees or directors, who may be 
appointed under the provisions of this act, and their 
successors in office, shall have perpetual succession, 
by such name as may be designated, and by such 
name shall be legally capable of contracting, and of 
prosecuting and defending suits, and shall have ca- 
pacity to acquire, hold, enjoy, dispose of, and convey 
all property, real or personal, which they may acquire 



Ohio, 211 

by purchase, donation, or otherwise, for the purpose 
of carrying out the intentions of such society or as- 
sociation, but they shall not acquire or hold property 
for any other purpose. 

Sfx. 86. That such society or association, when 
incorporated, may elect such officers, and make such 
rules and regulations, as may be necessary and ex- 
pedient, for its own government, and the manage- 
ment of its fiscal and other affairs, to effect the re- 
spective objects. 

Sec. 87. That if said board of trustees, or direc- 
tors, as is provided for by the sixty-sixth section of 
this act, shall be vacated, either in whole or in part, 
by death, resignation, or otherwise, such board of trust- 
ees, or directors, may be revived, or such vacancy 
or vacancies filled, in the manner pointed out in the 
sixty-sixth section of this act for the original organi- 
zation of said board, or in the manner pointed out by 
the laws and regulations of such religious or benevo- 
lent association, and a majority of said trustees, or 
directors, shall be a quorum for the transaction of 
business. 

Amendment to Act of March 24, 1S60, passed April 3, 1866. 

Sec. I. That the first and second sections of the 
above act be so amended as to read as follows : — 

Sec. I. That whenever any religious society shall 
desire to sell any real estate that may have been 
conveyed to such society, and is held in trust for a 
specified religious purpose, it shall be lawful for the 
trustees, wardens, and vestry, or other officers in- 
trusted with the management of the affairs of such 



212 Laivs Relating to Religious Corporations, 

society, to file in the Court of Common Pleas of the 
county where such real estate may be situated, a 
petition stating that such society desires to make 
such sale, setting forth the objects of such sale ; and 
if, upon the hearing of such case, it shall appear that 
such sale is desired by the members of such society, 
and that there is a necessity for the same, the court 
may authorize the trustees, or other officers holding 
the title in trust, to sell said real estate, in such man- 
ner, and upon such terms, as the court may deem 
reasonable. 

Sec. 2. The trustees, or other officers, authorized 
to make such sale, shall make return thereof to the 
court, ordering the same at such time as the court 
shall order, and thereupon, if the court shall be satis- 
fied that the same has been made, in all respects, 
according to its order, and that the proceeds have 
been invested in other real estate for the use of such 
society, or otherwise invested or disposed of, accord- 
ing to the wish of such society, the said sale shall be 
confirmed, and a deed authorized to be made to the 
purchaser ; provided, that the provisions of this act 
shall not extend to any grounds used or occupied as 
burial places for the dead. 

Sec. 3. That sections one and two of the act to 
which this is an amendment be and the same are 
hereby repealed. 

DISTURBING RELIGIOUS MEETINGS. 
Act passed April 12, 1S58. 

Sec. I. That no person shall sell, or expose for 
sale, give, barter, or otherwise dispose of in any way, 



Ohio. 213 

or at any place, any spirituous or other liquors, or 
any article of traffic whatever, at or within the dis- 
tance of two miles from the place where any relig- 
ious society, or assemblage of people, are collected, or 
collecting together for religious worship, in any field 
or woodland ; provided, that nothing in this act shall 
affect tavern keepers exercising their calling, nor 
distillers, manufacturers, or others, in prosecuting 
their regular trades at their places of business, or 
any persons disposing of any ordinary articles of 
provisions, excepting spirituous liquors, at their resi- 
dences, nor any person having a written permit from 
the trustees or managers of any such religious so- 
ciety or assemblage to sell provisions for the supply 
of persons attending such religious worship, their 
horses or cattle, such persons acting in conformity to 
the regulations of said religious assembly and to the 
laws of the State. 

Sec. 2. That any person found guilty of commit- 
ting a breach of the provisions of this act shall for- 
feit and pay for every such offense a fine of not less 
than ten or more than one hundred dollars into the 
township treasury for the use of the common schools 
in said tovv^nship where said offense was committed ; 
and any judge of the Common Pleas, sheriff, coroner, 
or justice of the peace of the county, or any consta- 
ble thereof, shall, upon view or information, and with 
or without warrant, apprehend any person so offend- 
ing, and seize all such liquors, or other articles of 
traffic, and the utensils or furniture containing them, 
and convey them before a justice of the peace ; and 
the said justice, upon the complaint, under oath or 



214 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

affirmation, of said officer apprehending such offend- 
er, or any person giving information, shall issue his 
warrant of arrest, which shall be formally served by 
the proper officer, and proceed to inquire into the 
truth of said accusation, and if found true, shall pro- 
ceed to bind such offender in such amount, not ex- 
ceeding five hundred dollars, as he shall deem proper, 
to answer at the next regular term of the common 
pleas in said county, to be proceeded with by indict- 
ment, the fine and costs to be collected as in other 
criminal cases ; provided^ that if such defendant or 
defendants shall plead guilty, said justice shall affix 
the penalty and proceed to judgment ; and in such 
case he shall immediately issue an execution against 
the property and body of the defendant or defend- 
ants for the fine and costs, unless paid or secured ; 
and said defendant or defendants shall not be dis- 
charged until said judgment and costs shall be fully 
paid, or secured to be paid. 

Sec. 3. That in any prosecution against any per- 
son or persons for a violation of the provisions of 
this act, if the defendant or defendants shall be ac- 
quitted, he or they shall recover of the person or 
persons filing the complaint double the amount of 
his or their costs, which said justice shall award. 

Sec. 4. That the act to which this is amendatory 
be and the same is hereby repealed. 



Oregon. 215 



Chapter XXVI 1 1.— Oregon. 

Laws of Oregon, 1874. 

Societies may Incorporate — Articles, where Filed — Powers of the 
Corporation — Protestant Episcopal Church — Bishop, Elder, etc. — 
Religious and Charitable Societies — Crimes against Public Policy. 

Sec. I. That whenever any church, or rehgious, 
benevolent, literary, or charitable society, or any 
society which shall have for its object the develop- 
ment of the physical or mental capacities of its mem- 
bers, shall desire to incorporate for the purpose of 
carrying out the object of said church or society, 
they may do so in the manner provided in this 
chapter. 

Sec 2. Three or more of the officers or trustees 
of said church or society, which officers or trustees 
shall have been duly chosen, elected, or appointed, in 
accordance with the usages and regulations of said 
church or society, shall make and subscribe written 
articles of incorporation in duplicate, and acknowl- 
edge the same before some officer authorized to take 
acknowledgments of deeds, and file one of such ar- 
ticles in the office of the Secretary of State, another 
in the clerk's office of the county where the church 
or society is located, and retain the third in the pos- 
session of the corporation. 

Sec 3. The articles of incorporation, or a certified 
copy of the one filed in the office of the Secretary of 
State or county clerk, shall be evidence of the exist- 
ence of such incorporation. 

Sec 4. The articles of incorporation shall specify : 



2i6 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

1. The name assumed by the corporation, and by 
which name it shall be known, and the duration of 
the same if limited. 

2. The object, or business, or pursuit of said cor- 
poration. 

3. The estimated value of property and money 
possessed by said church or society at the time of 
making said articles of incorporation, and the sources 
of revenue or income. 

4. The title of the officers or trustees making such 
articles, and the mode and times of the election of 
their successors in office. 

5. The location of said church or society. 

Sec. 5. Upon the making and filing of articles of 
incorporation, as herein provided, the persons sub- 
scribing the same, and their successors in office, 
associates, and assigns, by the name assumed in 
such articles, shall thereafter be deemed a body cor- 
porate, with power, 

1. To sue and be sued. 

2. To contract and be contracted with. 

3. To have and use a corporate seal, and the same 
to change at pleasure. 

4. To purchase, receive, possess, and dispose of 
such real and personal property as may be neces- 
sary or convenient to carry out the object of said 
corporation. 

5. To make by-laws, not inconsistent with any ex- 
isting law, for the government of its affairs and the 
management of its property. 

Sec. 6. The powers vested in such corporation are 
exercised by the corporators and their successors in 



Oregon, 217 

office ; provided, that said vested powers may be ex- 
ercised by a majority of said corporators or succes- 
sors, and any one of said corporators or successors 
may verify any pleading made by the corporation, 
and required by law to be verified. 

Sec. 7. No corporation formed under this chapter 
shall ever hold or possess property, including money 
and assets, amounting in value to more than five 
hundred thousand dollars, and any corporation vio- 
lating the provisions of this chapter shall forfeit its 
corporate rights. 

Sec. 8. That any number of persons, not less than 
three, being the duly appointed or elected wardens 
and vestrymen of the Protestant Episcopal Church 
of the United States in the State of Oregon, accord- 
ing to the canons, rules, and regulations of said 
church, may become incorporated by making, ac- 
knowledging, and filing articles of incorporation for 
such purpose, in conformity with the canons, rules, 
and regulations of said church, upon the organization 
and incorporation of parishes, and the provisions of 
this chapter, and upon the making and filing of such 
articles of incorporation as aforesaid, such wardens 
and vestry-men, and their successors in office, shall, 
by the name assumed therein, be thereafter taken 
and deemed a body corporate, with the powers pre- 
scribed and mentioned in section five of this chapter. 

Sec. 9. That any person being the bishop, over- 
seer, or presiding elder of any church or religious 
denomination in this State, may, in conformity with 
the constitution, canons, rules, regulations, and dis- 
cipline of such church or denomination, become a 



2i8 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

corporation sole for religious and educational pur- 
poses in the manner prescribed in this chapter, as 
nearly as may be, and thereupon said bishop, over- 
seer, or presiding elder, as the case may be, together 
with his successors in office or position, by his official 
designation, shall be held and deemed to be a body 
corporate, with all the rights and powers, and sub- 
ject to the limitations prescribed in this chapter in 
the case of corporations aggregate. 

Sec. 10. That the provisions of this chapter shall 
be so construed as to include all such charitable so- 
cieties as have heretofore been or shall hereafter be 
composed in whole or in part of married women ; and 
married women are hereby declared eligible to hold 
offices in such societies, and act as trustees thereof, 
under the provisions of this chapter, the same as 
other persons, and no liability shall attach to the hus- 
band of any such married woman in consequence of 
any act resulting from such official position by his wife. 

Sec. II.* That incorporations may be formed for 
acquiring, holding, and disposing of church property, 
for the benefit of religion, for works of charity, and for 
public worship, in the manner provided in this chapter. 

Sec 12. One or more of the principal officers, 
trustees, or clergy of any church, who shall have 
been duly chosen, elected, or appointed in accordance 
with the usages and regulations of such church, and 
authorized to act for the church, and who [in whom] 
shall be vested at any time the legal title of the 
church property, may make and subscribe written 
articles of incorporation in duplicate, and acknowl- 

* This act and the following sections took effect January 21, 1S73. 



Oregon. 219 

edge the same before some officer authorized to take 
the acknowledgment of deeds, and file and have re- 
corded one of such articles in the office of the Secre- 
tary of State, and retain possession of the other. 

Sec. 13. The articles shall specify: i. The name 
assumed by the corporation, and by which it shall be 
known ; 2. The object of said corporation ; 3. The 
estimated value of church property and money at the 
time of making articles of incorporation ; 4. The title 
of the person or persons making such articles, and 
the manner and time in which the successor or suc- 
cessors are elected, chosen, or appointed. 

Sec. 14. Upon the making and filing for record 
articles of incorporation, as herein provided, the per- 
son or persons subscribing the same, and his or their 
successor or successors in office, by name or title 
specified in the articles, shall thereafter be deemed a 
body corporate, with continual, perpetual succession, 
and shall have power to acquire and possess by do- 
nation, gift, or purchase, and to retain and enjoy 
property, real, personal, and mixed, and the same to 
sell, grant, convey or rent, or otherwise dispose of at 
pleasure ; provided, howevery that no part of the re- 
sources of said corporation shall ever be used for 
any other than the object herein named; and pro- 
videdy further^ that no corporation formed under this 
act shall ever hold or possess property, including 
money and assets, amounting in value to more than 
five hundred thousand dollars. 

Sec. 15. Such corporations shall have power to con- 
tract and be contracted with, to sue and be sued, plead 
and be pleaded in all courts of justice, and to have 



220 Laivs Relating to Religious Corporations. 

and use a common seal, by which all deeds and acts 
of such corporation shall pass and be authenticated. 

Sec. 1 6. That all deeds and other instruments of 
writing shall be signed by the person or persons 
representing the corporation in the official capacity 
designated in the articles of incorporation, and sealed 
with the seal of the corporation, and an impression of 
which seal shall be filed in the office of the Secretary 
of State ; provided^ that this act shall not have the 
effect to repeal, or modify in any particular, the act 
passed October 24, 1864, entitled "An act for the 
incorporation of churches, and religious and benevo- 
lent and charitable societies," nor the act passed at 
this session amendatory of the same. 

Sec. 17. The articles of incorporation, or a certi- 
fied copy of the one filed and recorded in the office 
of the Secretary of State, shall be evidence of the 
existence of such corporation. 

Chapter 49, Laws of 1866. 
CRIMES AGAINST PUBLIC POLICY. 

Sec 651. If any person shall willfully disturb, in- 
terrupt, or disquiet any assembly or congregation of 
people met for religious worship, whether in a house 
or in the open air, by either uttering any profane 
discourse, committing any rude or indecent act, or 
making any unnecessary noise within the place 
where such meeting is held, or so near to it as to 
disturb the order and solemnity thereof, or by expos- 
ing for sale, or gift, any intoxicating Hquors or drinks 
within two miles of the place where any such assem- 
bly or congregation shall be actually convened for 



Oregon, 221 

religious worship, and in a place other than such as 
shall have been duly licensed therefor, and in which 
such person shall have usually resided and carried 
on business, such person upon conviction thereof 
shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail, 
not less than one month, nor more than six months, 
or by fine, not less than ten dollars nor more than 
two hundred dollars. 



Chapter X X I X. — P e n n s y 1 v a n i a. 

Corporations : (i.) By the Supreme Court ; (2.) By the Courts of 
Common Pleas ; (3.) Courts may Amend Charters ; (4.) Dissokition 
of Corporations — Disturbance of Camp-meetings — Other Religious 
Gatherings. 

BY THE SUPREME COURT. 

Sec. I. When any number of persons, citizens of 
this Commonwealth, are associated, or mean to asso- 
ciate, for any literary, charitable, or for any religious 
purpose, and shall be desirous to acquire and enjoy 
the powers and immunities of a corporation, or body 
politic in law, it shall and maybe lawful for such per- 
sons to prepare an instrument in writing, therein 
specifying the objects, articles, conditions, and names, 
style and title, under which they have associated or 
mean to associate, and the same to exhibit and pre- 
sent to the attorney-general of the Commonwealth for 
the time being, who is required thereupon to peruse 
and examine the said instrument, and, after such 
perusal and examination, to transmit it, with the cer- 
tificate thereon indorsed, testifying his opinions 
16 



222 Lazvs Relating to Religious Corporations. 

touching the lawfulness of the objects, articles, and 
conditions therein set forth and contained, unto the 
Supreme Court of this Commonwealth ; and the said 
court is hereby also required thereupon to peruse and 
examine said instrument, and to transmit it, with a 
certificate thereon indorsed, testifying also the 
opinion of the said court touching the lawfulness of 
the objects, articles, and conditions therein set forth 
and contained, unto the governor of the Common- 
wealth ; and if the said attorney-general, and the 
said court, shall certify their opinion as aforesaid to be, 
that the objects, articles, and conditions in such in- 
strument set forth and contained are lawful, then the 
said governor (but not otherwise) shall transmit the 
same [to the master of the rolls] with an order thereon 
indorsed, requiring him to enroll the same, at the 
expense of the applicants ; and upon the enrollment 
thereof, the persons so associated, or meaning to as- 
sociate, shall, according to the objects, articles, and 
conditions in the said instrument set forth and con- 
tained, become and be a corporation or body politic 
in law and in fact, to have continuance by the name, 
style, and title in such instrument provided and de- 
clared. 

Sec. 2. As often as the corporations established 
by virtue of this act, and the successors thereof re- 
spectively, shall be desirous of improving, amending, 
or altering the articles and conditions of the instru- 
ment upon which the said corporations, respectively, 
are, as aforesaid formed and established, it shall and 
may be lawful for such corporations respectively, in 
like manner, to specify the improvements, amend- 



Pennsylvania. 223 

ments, or alterations which are or shall be desired, 
and the same to exhibit and present to the attorney- 
general and Supreme Court, who shall in like manner 
successively certify their opinion to the governor of 
this Commonwealth touching the lawfulness of such 
improvements, amendments, and alterations ; and the 
same being certified, as aforesaid, to be lawful, shall 
in like manner be directed by the governor to be en- 
rolled [by the master of the rolls] at the expense of 
the applicants ; and upon enrollment thereof shall be 
taken and deemed a part of the instrument upon 
which such corporations respectively were formed 
and established, to all intents and purposes, as if the 
same had originally made a part thereof. 

Sec. 3. The corporations established by virtue of 
this act, and the successors thereof, respectively, shall 
have full power and authority to make, have, and use 
one common seal, with such device and inscription 
as they shall respectively deem p^-oper, and the same 
to break, alter, and renew at their pleasure ; and by 
the name, style, and title by them respectively 
provided and declared aforesaid, shall be able and 
capable in law to sue and be sued, plead and be im- 
pleaded, in any court or courts, before any judge or 
judges, justice or justices, in all manner of suits, 
complaints, pleas, causes, matters and demands what- 
soever, and all and every matter or thing therein to 
do, in as full and effectual a manner as any other per- 
son or persons, bodies poHtic or corporate within this 
Commonwealth, may or can do ; and shall be author- 
ized and empowered to make rules, by-laws, and 
orduiances, and to do every thing needful for the 



224 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

good government and support of the affairs of the 
said corporations respectively ; p7'ovided always^ 
that the said by-laws, rules, and ordinances, or any 
of them, be not repugnant to the constitution, and 
laws of the United States, to the constitution and 
laws of this Commonwealth, or to the instrument upon 
which the said corporations respectively, are as afore- 
said formed and established. 

Sec. 4. The corporations established by virtue of 
this act, and the successors thereof respectively, by 
the name, style, and title by them respectively pro- 
vided and declared as aforesaid, shall be able and 
capable in law, according to the terms and conditions 
of the instrument upon which the said corporations 
respectively are as aforesaid formed and established, 
to take, receive, and hold all, and all manner of lands, 
tenements, rents, annuities, franchises, and heredit- 
aments, and any sum and sums of money, and any 
manner or portion of goods and chattels, given and 
bequeathed unto them respectively, to be employed 
and disposed of according to the objects, articles, and 
conditions of the instrument upon which said corpo- 
rations respectively are, as aforesaid, formed and es- 
tablished, or according to the articles and by-laws of 
the said corporations respectively, or of the will and 
intention of the owners. 

Sec 5. The provisions of the act to which this is 
a supplement be, and they are hereby extended to 
beneficial societies and associations, and to fire-en- 
gine and hose companies. 

Sec. 6. The limitation contained in the proviso to 
the fourth section of the act to which this is a 



Pennsylvan ia, 225 

supplement be, and the same is hereby repealed ; 
and from and after the passage of this act, the corpo- 
rations estabHshed by virtue of the act to which this 
is a supplement, and all such as may hereafter be es- 
tablished by virtue of the said act, and the present 
supplement, and the successors thereof, respectively, 
shall be able and capable in law, according to the 
terms and conditions of the instrument upon which 
the said corporations respectively are, as aforesaid, 
formed and established, to take, receive, and hold all 
and all manner of lands, tenements, rents, annuities, 
franchises, and hereditaments, and any sum and 
sums of money, and any manner and portion of 
goods and chattels given and bequeathed unto them 
respectively, to be employed and disposed of accord- 
ing to the objects, articles, and conditions of the in- 
strument upon which the said corporations respect- 
ively are as aforesaid formed and established, or ac- 
cording to the articles, and by-laws of the said cor- 
porations respectively, or of the will and intention of 
the donors. 

Sec. 7. It shall be lawful for any association of 
citizens, authorized to obtain a charter of incorpora- 
tion from any court, to hold real estate in their cor- 
porate capacity, not exceeding in the whole the clear 
yearly value or income of five thousand dollars. 

Sec. 8. It shall be the duty of the court, in grant- 
ing a charter of incorporation for any purpose, to 
limit the yearly income of such corporation, other 
than from real estate, to such sum as, in the opinion 
of the court, will not be injurious or prejudicial to 
the community. 



226 Lazvs Relating to Religious Corporations, 

Sec. 9. Any corporation established by virtue of 
an act to confer on certain associations of citizens of 
this Commonwealth the powers and immunities of 
corporations or bodies politic in law, passed the sixth 
day of April, 1791, and the several supplements 
thereto, shall have the power to take, by purchase or 
otherwise, and hold all manner of lands, tenements, 
and hereditaments in the same manner, and subject 
to the same limitations, as to quantity and value, as 
provided by law. 

Sec. 10. It shall be lawful for the courts to permit 
married women to be incorporated with others in 
any institution composed of women, or to be under 
their management, for the care and education of 
children, or for the support of sick or indigent 
women. 

II. BY THE COURTS OF COMMON PLEAS. 

Sec II. When any number of persons, citizens of 
this Commonwealth, are associated, or mean to asso- 
ciate, for any Hterary, charitable, or religious pur- 
pose, or for the purpose of forming any fire-engine or 
hose company, or beneficial society or association, 
and shall be desirous to acquire and enjoy the 
powers and immunities of a corporation or body 
politic in law, it shall and may be lawful for such 
persons to prepare an instrument in writing, therein 
specifying the objects, articles, conditions, and name, 
style, or title under which they have associated or 
mean to associate, and the same to exhibit and pre- 
sent to the Court of Common Pleas of the proper 
county in which said corporation is intended to be 



Pennsylvania. 227 

situated, or its principal business transacted ; which 
said court is hereby required to peruse and examine 
said instrument, and if the objects, articles, and con- 
ditions therein set forth and contained shall appear 
lawful, and not injurious to the community, said 
court shall direct said writing to be filed in the office 
of the prothonotary of said court, and also direct no- 
tice to be inserted in one newspaper, printed in the 
proper county, for at least three weeks, setting forth 
that an application has been made to said court to 
grant such charter of incorporation, and if no suffi- 
cient reason is shown to the contrary, it shall be law- 
ful for the said court, at the next term thereafter, to 
decree and declare, by their order indorsed on said 
instrument, attested in the usual manner by the 
prothonotary, under the seal of said court, that the 
persons so associated shall, according to the articles 
and conditions in said instrument set forth and con- 
tained, become and be a corporation, or body politic, 
and further direct that said charter of incorporation 
shall be recorded in the office for the recording of 
deeds in said county ; and on said instrument being 
so recorded, the persons so associated, or meaning to 
associate, shall, according to the objects, articles, and 
conditions in said instrument set forth and contained, 
become and be a corporation or body politic in law 
and in fact, to have continuance by the name, style, 
and title in such instrument provided and declared. 

Sec. 12. The usual fees allowed by law for equal 
or similar services shall be received by the respective 
county officers under the provisions of this act, and 
all the expense of procuring said charter of incorpora- 



228 Lazvs Relating to Religious Corporations, 

tion and recording the same shall be borne by the 
persons applying therefor ; and after said articles of 
association shall be recorded, as before directed, the 
same shall be duly certified to be recorded and deliv- 
ered over to the applicants, and a copy of the record 
duly certified shall be at all times as good evidence 
as the original might or could be. 

Sec. 13. The third section of the act of the sixth 
of April, 1791, entitled "An act to confer on certain 
associations of the citizens of this Commonwealth the 
powers and immunities of corporations or bodies 
politic in law," and the second section of the sup- 
plement thereto, passed the eighth day of April, 
1833, be and the same are hereby extended to and 
made a part of this act, as fully as though the same 
were hereby re-enacted, and all corporations to be 
created under the provisions of this act shall be sub- 
ject to the provisions of said sections. 

Sec. 14. Nothing in this act contained shall be 
construed to alter or change the jurisdiction of the 
Supreme Court of this State in relation to corpora- 
tions, but the same shall remain as heretofore. 

Sec. 15. The several Courts of Common Pleas of 
this Commonwealth shall have power and authority 
to grant charters of incorporation in all cases in 
which the same is authorized to be granted under 
existing laws by the Supreme Court of this Common- 
wealth ; and the associations hereafter incorporated 
under the laws of this Commonwealth may be author- 
ized to hold real estate to an amount, the clear yearly 
value or income whereof shall not exceed twenty 
thousand dollars. 



Pennsylvania. 229 

Sec. 16. All charters of incorporation which have 
heretofore been granted by any of said Courts of 
Common Pleas, in cases wherein the said supreme 
court only had power and authority to grant the 
same, be and the same are hereby validated, and 
made of the same force and effect as if the same had 
been granted in pursuance of authority conferred 
upon said Courts of Common Pleas. 

DISSOLUTION OF CORPORATIONS. 

It shall be lawful for any Court of Common Pleas 
of the proper county to hear the petition of any cor- 
poration, under the seal thereof, by and with the con- 
sent of a majority of a meeting of the corporators, 
duly convened, praying for permission to surrender 
any power contained in its charter, or for the disso- 
lution of such corporation ; and if such court shall be 
satisfied that the prayer of such petition may be 
granted without prejudice to the public welfare, or 
the interests of the corporators, the court may enter 
a decree in accordance with the prayer of the peti- 
tion, whereupon such power shall cease, or such cor- 
poration be dissolved ; provided, that the surrender 
of any such power shall not in anywise remove any 
limitation or restriction in such charter, and that the 
accounts of the managers, directors, or trustees of 
any dissolved company shall be settled in such court, 
and be approved thereby ; and dividends of the ef- 
fects shall be made among any corporators entitled 
thereto, as in the case of the accounts of assignees 
and trustees ; provided, further, that no property de- 
voted to religious, literary, or charitable uses shall 



230 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

be diverted from the objects for which they were 
given or granted ; provided, that the decree of said 
court shall not go into effect until a certified copy 
thereof be filed and recorded in the office of the Sec- 
retary of the Commonwealth. 

RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES. 

Grants Confirmed — Power to Purchase Lands — Liquors not to be, 
Sold near Places of Worship — i^o Ecclesiastic can Transmit — Church 
Property Subject to the Control of Lay Members — Gifts within One 
Month of the Donor's Decease to be void. 

Sec. I. All sales, gifts, or grants made of any 
lands or tenements within the province of Pennsyl- 
vania to any person or persons in trust for sites 
of churches, houses of religious worship, schools, 
almshouses, and for burying-grounds, or for any of 
them, shall be and are hereby ratified and confirmed 
to the person or persons to whom the same were 
sold, given, or granted, their heirs and assigns, in 
trust nevertheless, and for the use of the respective 
religious societies for whose use the same were at 
first sold, given, granted, or purchased, according to 
the true intent and meaning of such gifts and grants. 
And every sale, gift, grant, or devise of any such 
trustee or trustees, or any person or persons in 
whose name or names the said lands for erecting 
churches, houses of religious worship, schools, alms- 
houses, or burying-grounds within this province, were 
purchased, taken, or accepted, or the heirs or assigns 
of such trustees, shall be, and are hereby declared to 
be, for the sole use, benefit, and behoof of the said 
respective societies who have been in the peaceable 



Pennsylvania, 23 1 

possession of the same for the space of twenty-one 
years next before the tenth day of June, 1730, or for 
whose use the same were at first given, granted, or 
devised, and no other. 

Sec. 2. It shall and may be lawful for any relig- 
ious denomination or society within this Common- 
wealth to purchase, take, receive, and hold, by deed, 
gift, grant, or otherwise, lands or tenements for the 
purpose of burial-grounds, churches, parsonages, 
school-houses, and almshouses, for any real estate 
whatsoever, and to have and hold the same, accord- 
ing to the respective rules and disciplinary regula- 
tions of said religious societies ; provided, that noth- 
ing in this act contained shall be construed to permit 
any religious denomination or society, or any person 
in trust for them, unless specially authorized by its 
charter, to purchase, hold, or take real estate, except 
for the purposes aforesaid, and so much of the act of 
the sixth of February, 1730 and 173 1, entitled "An 
act for the enabling religious societies of Protestants 
within this province to purchase lands for burying- 
grounds, churches, houses of worship, schools, and 
so forth," as is inconsistent herewith, be and the 
same is hereby repealed. 

Sec. 3. The registry now kept, or which shall 
hereafter be kept, by any religious society in their 
respective meeting book or books, of any marriage, 
birth, or burial within this province, or territories 
thereof, shall be held good and authentic, and shall 
be allowed of upon all occasions whatsoever. 

Sec. 4. It shall not be lawful for any person or 
persons to erect, place, or have any booth, stall, tent, 



232 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

carriage, boat, or vessel, or any other place whatever, 
for the purpose or use of selling, giving, or otherwise 
disposing of any kind of articles of traffic, spirituous 
liquors, wine, porter, beer, cider, or any other fer- 
mented, mixed, or strong drink (excepting as herein- 
after excepted) within three miles of any place of 
religious worship in this State during the time of 
holding any meeting for religious worship at such, 
place. 

Sec. 5. If any person or persons shall or do violate 
this act by erecting, fixing, or having any booth, stall, 
tent, carriage, boat, or vessel, or other place for the 
purpose or use aforesaid, or by selling, bartering, 
giving, or otherwise disposing of any kind of articles 
of traffic, spirituous liquors, wine, porter, beer, cider, 
or other fermented, mixed, or strong drink, in, at, or 
about any such booth, stall, carriage, boat, or vessel, 
or any other place whatever, prepared or used for the 
purpose of aforesaid, within three miles of any place 
of religious worship during the time of holding any 
meeting for religious worship at such place, the per- 
son or persons so offending shall first be informed of 
his, her, or their violation of this act, and shall be 
warned by any justice of the peace, constable, or two 
freeholders of the county where the offense is or shall 
have been committed, to desist from such offense, 
and to remove such booth, stall, tent, carriage, boat, 
vessel, or other thing, together with all such articles 
of traffic, spirituous liquors, wine, porter, beer, cider, 
or other strong drink belonging to or in the posses- 
sion of the person or persons so offending ; and if 
such person or persons, on receiving such information 



Pennsylvania. 233 

or warning, shall forthwith cease to offend against 
this act, and shall remove as aforesaid, at least three 
miles from such place of religious worship, then no 
further proceedings under this act shall be had 
against such person or persons ; but if such person 
or persons shall refuse to or neglect immediately to 
remove as aforesaid, when informed and warned as 
aforesaid, then all the said articles of traffic, spirit- 
uous liquors, wine, porter, beer, cider, and other 
fermented, mixed, and strong drink, and all the ves- 
sels, chests, and other things containing the same, 
together with such booth, stall, tent, carriage, boat, or 
vessel, or other place prepared and used for the pur- 
pose aforesaid, shall be and are hereby declared to be 
forfeited ; and it shall be lawful for any justice of the 
peace and constable, with two freeholders of the 
county, to seize and take possession of all or any part 
of the said forfeited articles and liquors, together 
with such booth, stall, tent, carriage, boat, and ves- 
sel, and at any time within ten days after to adver- 
tise and sell the same, and after deducting and paying 
the necessary and lawful expenses of such seizure and 
sale, the residue of the proceeds of such sale or sales 
shall be paid to the overseers of the poor in the town- 
ship for the use of the poor of the county, where the 
support of the poor is a county charge, and where it 
is a township charge, to the poor of the township 
where such offense shall have been committed. 

Sec. 6. Nothing in this act shall be taken or con- 
strued so as to affect any licensed tavern-keeper in 
his or her ordinary and lawful business, at his or her 
usual place of residence, specified in his or her 



234 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

license, nor shall it be so taken and construed as to 
aftect any merchant, shopkeeper, farmer, mechanic, 
or other person, in the usual and lawful transactions 
of his, her, or their concerns or business, in their 
usual place of doing such business, nor shall it be 
so taken, construed, or understood as to affect any 
person or persons who shall have a permit in writing 
from the person or persons having the oversight, 
charge, and management of any such meeting, to sell 
bread, and other necessary articles of food for man 
and beast ; provided^ the conduct of persons attend- 
ing such meeting shall accord with the lawful rules 
and regulations of such meeting, and the property of 
such persons attending such religious meeting be not 
of the description forbidden by this act. 

Sec. 7. If any suit or action shall be brought 
against any person or persons for doing, or causing 
to be done, any thing in pursuance of the act accord- 
ing to the provisions thereof, the defendant or de- 
fendants may plead the general issue, and give the 
special matter under this act in evidence ; and if in 
such suit or action a verdict and judgment shall be 
given for the defendant or defendants, or the plaintiff 
shall become nonsuit or discontinue his action, the 
defendant or defendants shall have and recover double 
the costs of suit. 

Sec. 8. No bishop, or other ecclesiastic in any 
church, shall hereafter hold any real or personal es- 
tate in this Commonwealth, with a capacity to trans- 
mit the title thereof to his successor in office, other- 
wise than as any other individual holding the same 
in his private or natural capacity might do ; and any 



Pennsylvania, 235 

law conferring such capacity, to transmit by operation 
of law property to any successor in any ecclesiastical 
office, is hereby repealed ; provided, that this repeal 
shall not affect the validity of any titles now held, as 
aforesaid, but the same may be alienated, or devised, 
as property held by such ecclesiastical officer in his 
natural capacity, but for the like uses and trusts, as the 
same would be subject to if this act were not passed. 
Sec. 9. Whenever any property, real or personal, 
shall hereafter be bequeathed, devised, or conveyed 
to any ecclesiastical corporation, bishop, ecclesiastic, 
or other person, for the use of any church, congrega- 
tion, or religious society, for religious worship, or 
sepulture, or the maintenance of either, the same 
shall not be otherwise taken and held, or inure, than 
subject to the control and disposition of the lay 
members of such church, congregation, or religious 
society, or such constituted officers or representatives 
thereof, as shall be composed of a majority of lay 
members, citizens of Pennsylvania, having a controll- 
ing power, according to the rules, regulations, usages, 
or corporate requirements thereof, so far as consistent 
herewith ; and no charter hereafter granted, by any 
court, for any church, congregation, or religious socie- 
ty, shall be valid, without requiring such property to be 
taken, held, and to inure, subject as aforesaid, except 
such religious society, who shall be composed exclu- 
sively of others than laymen, may have trustees, or 
corporators of the same description of persons ; pro- 
vided, that it shall be lawful for a majority of the 
male members, of lawful age, of any unincorporated 
church, congregation, or religious society, to choose 



236 Lazvs Relating to Religions Corporations. 

for their trustee or trustees any other person or per- 
sons than a layman, and whenever not previously 
declared, to declare the manner in which the title to 
their trust property shall be held and conveyed, 
and upon due proof of such consent, any court hav- 
ing jurisdiction over trusts may direct the legal title 
to be conveyed accordingly ; but nothing herein con- 
tained shall authorize the diversion of any property 
from the purposes, uses, and trusts to which it may 
have been heretofore lawfully dedicated, or to which 
it may hereafter, consistently herewith, be lawfully 
dedicated ; and provided, that no alien shall hereafter 
acquire and hold, either as trustee or in his own 
right, real estate of a greater annual value than is 
hereby limited to be held by a corporation. 

Sec. 10. No estate, real or personal, shall here- 
after be bequeathed, devised, or conveyed to any 
body politic, or to any person, in trust for religious 
or charitable uses, except the same be done by deed 
or will, attested by two credible and, at the time, dis- 
interested witnesses, at least one calendar month be- 
fore the decease of the testator or alienor; and all 
dispositions of property contrary hereto shall be 
void, and go to the residuary legatee or devisee, next 
of kin or heirs, according to law ; provided, that any 
disposition of property within said period, bona fide 
made for a fair valuable consideration, shall not be 
hereby avoided. 

Sec. II. All dispositions of property hereafter 
made to religious, charitable, literary, or scientific 
uses, and all incorporations or associations formed 
for such objects, shall be taken to have been made 



Pennsylvania, 237 

and formed under and in subordination to all the 
duties and requisitions of this act, as rules of prop- 
erty, and laws for their government. 

Sec. 12. All property hereafter acquired and held 
by persons, corporations, or associations, forbidden 
by this act to hold the same, or held contrary to tlie 
intent of this act, and all such hereafter acquired, 
and held beyond the limit prescribed as aforesaid by 
this act, shall escheat to this Commonwealth ; and 
upon the same being adjudged to have escheated, 
under proceedings in court, by quo warranto, in all 
respects as is provided by law in the case of the 
usurpation of any corporate franchise, the same shall 
be taken in possession and disposed of, and with the 
like compensation to the person or persons inform- 
ing, and procuring the inquisition, as in cases of 
property escheated for defect of heirs ; provided, that 
no property now held, or hereafter lawfully acquired, 
shall afterward become defeasible in title by reason 
of any subsequent rise in the value thereof; but 
such rise, after it shall occur, shall be taken into 
view, to preclude a further acquisition, and holding 
beyond the limit aforesaid ; and provided, that the 
Legislature may relieve, upon such terms as may be 
deemed just and for the public good, from any forfeit- 
ure as aforesaid, upon the payment to the party in- 
forming or prosecuting, his actual expenses, and such 
further reasonable compensation as the Legislature 
may prescribe. 

Sec. 13. It shall be the duty of the auditor-gen- 
eral, w^henever he shall have reason to believe that 

any property shall be defeasibly held, and liable, upon 
17 



238 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

office found, to accrue to the treasury, or that the in- 
come of any corporation or association as aforesaid, 
shall exceed the limit allowed by law, to call upon 
any, and all officers or trustees thereof, to make, 
within thirty days, a true return and exhibit of all 
their property, and the annual income thereof ; and 
if no return be made within such time, or the same 
be unsatisfactory to him, it shall be further his duty 
to cause to be filed a bill of discovery in the Supreme 
Court, or in any court of the proper county having 
equity jurisdiction, against the officers or trustees of 
any such corporation or association, which the de- 
fendants therein shall answer under the compulsion 
usual in such cases ; and their answers may be used 
in any proceeding to assert the rights of the Common- 
wealth. 



Chapter XXX.— South Carolina. 

Protestant Episcopal Church — Methodist Episcopal Church — 
African Methodist Episcopal Church — Any Society may Incorporate 
— Disturbing Religious Meeting. 

Eevised Statutes— 1873. Chapter 64. 

Sec. 41. That hereafter, when any male adults, 
being not less than twelve in number in this State, 
shall desire to associate themselves together for the 
purpose of forming a church, according to the doc- 
trine, discipline, and worship of the Protestant Epis- 
copal Church in this State, they shall be allowed to 
do so, by filing with the clerk of the Court of Com- 
mon Pleas and General Sessions, for the county in 
which said applicants reside, a written statement 



South Carolina, 239 

of such purpose and intention, signed by them and 
setting forth the name of their church, and the style of 
their corporation, which statement shall be recorded in 
the said clerk's office, and on receiving the certificate 
thereof they shall become a body corporate for the 
purpose aforesaid, and shall be known by the name 
and style designated in their said written statement. 

Sec. 42. The said corporations shall, by their re- 
spective corporate names, have succession of officers 
and members, according to their respective by-laws, 
and shall have power to make all by-laws and regula- 
tions for their government not repugnant to the laws 
of South Carohna, or the constitution, canons, and 
other regulations of the Protestant Episcopal Church 
in the same ; to have and to keep and use a common 
seal, and the same to alter at will ; to sue and be 
sued, plead and be impleaded, in any court in this 
State, each to have and enjoy every right incident to 
incorporations. 

Sec. 43. They shall also be empowered, severally, 
to retain, possess, and enjoy all such property, real or 
personal, as they may respectively be possessed of, 
or in any wise entitled unto, or which shall hereafter 
be given or bequeathed to, or in any way acquired 
by them, and to sell, alien, and in any way transfer 
the same, or any part thereof. 

Sec. 44. Any congregation of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church, already incorporated in South 
Carohna, may, on expiration of their charter, or at any 
time before, if they see proper to surrender their 
charter, become a body politic and corporate under 
provisions of section forty-one to forty-three, inclu- 



240 Lazvs Relating to Religious Corporations. 

sive, of this chapter, by making known their inten- 
tions to do so, according to the provisions of the 
forty-first section thereof. 

Sec. 45. Charters secured or renewed, under sec- 
tions forty-one to forty-four, inclusive, shall be per- 
petual, subject, hov/ever, to the power of the General 
Assembly to repeal or alter the same. 

Sec. 46. That the Methodist Episcopal Church 
of the United States is authorized to organize re- 
ligious societies and churches in this State, in ac- 
cordance with the rules and requirements of the Dis- 
cipline of said church. 

Sec. 47. Whenever five or more persons are as- 
sociated, being organized and appointed trustees 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, according to the 
Discipline thereof, they shall be a body politic with 
powers and privileges incident to a corporation for 
religious purposes. 

Sec 48. Such trustees shall have succession of 
officers, as provided by said church's Discipline ; may 
receive, hold, and manage all the property, both real 
and personal, belonging to said society or church, 
and hold in trust, gifts, grants, bequests, or dona- 
tions, made to such society or church for the support 
of public worship and other religious purposes, being 
governed in their official action by the Discipline of 
said Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Sec 49. Each society or church so organized shall, 
at their organization, draw up a statement of the 
same, setting forth the facts, signed by the chairman 
and secretary, which statement shall be recorded in 
the office of the countv clerk. 



South Carolina, 241 

Sec. 50. That the African Methodist Episcopal 
Church in this State is hereby incorporated, with all 
the rights and privileges awarded to religious de- 
nominations within this State. 

Sec 51. The said African Methodist Episcopal 
Church shall exercise and enforce its Discipline, in 
accordance with the regulations of the same, within 
any branches of the said church within this State 
established, and shall be protected in law in the 
same ; and all property acquired by the said church 
shall be held by them according to the form of 
deeds designated by their discipline and mode of 
government. 

Sec 52. The said church may acquire lands within 
this State for religious and educational purposes, 
and regulate and govern the same as they may deem 
proper, in accordance with their law and discipline, 
such laws not being inconsistent with the laws of 
the State. 

Sec 53. That seven or more persons within this 
State having associated themselves, by agreement in 
writing, for educational, charitable, or religious pur- 
poses, under any name by them assumed, and com- 
plying with the provisions of the four following 
sections, shall, with their successors, be and remain a 
body politic and corporate. 

Sec 54. The purpose of such corporation, and the 
place within which it is established or located, shall 
be distinctly specified in its articles of association, 
which articles, and all amendments thereto, shall be 
recorded in the office of the register of mesne con- 
veyances for the county wherein such place is situated, 



242 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

and such corporations shall appropriate its funds to 
no other purpose. 

Sec. 55. Such corporation shall have all the powers 
and privileges, and be subject to the duties, liabili- 
ties, and restrictions set forth in sections one to 
thirty-eight, relating to the formation of mechanical, 
mining, quarrying, and manufacturing corporations, 
so far as the same may be applicable. 

Sec. 56. Such corporations may hold real and 
personal estate, necessary for the purposes of their 
organization, to an amount not exceeding one hun- 
dred thousand dollars. 

Sec. 57. Their estate shall not be exempt from 
taxation in any case where part of the income or 
profits of their business is divided among members 
or stockholders, or where any portion of such estate 
is used or appropriated for other than educational, 
charitable, or religious purposes. 

Laws of 1873. 

Sec 281. That if any person shall willfully and 
maliciously disturb or interrupt any meeting, society, 
assembly, or congregation convened for the purpose 
of religious worship, or shall enter such meeting while 
in a state of intoxication, or shall use or sell spiritu- 
ous liquors, or use blasphemous language at or near 
the place of meeting, such person shall be guilty of 
a misdemeanor, and shall, on conviction, be sen- 
tenced to pay a fine of not less than twenty or more 
than one hundred dollars, or be imprisoned for a 
term not exceeding one year, or less than thirty 
days, or both, or either, at the discretion of the court. 



Tennessee. 243 



Chapter X X X I.— T e n n e s s e e 

Kevised Statutes of 1873.— Title 10, chapter 1. 

Religious Society — How to Take and Hold Land — Title Vested in 
Trustees — Obstructing way to Places of Worship — Disturbance — 
Selling Liquors. 

1467. Any number of persons, not less than five, 
desirous of becoming incorporated for purposes of 
education or learning, may elect trustees, not less 
than three nor more than nine, who shall make a 
memorandum in writing, within thirty days after 
such election, stating the corporate name selected, 
the names of the trustees, the length of time for 
which they are elected, and the purposes of the pro- 
posed incorporation. 

1469. The members of any church or religious 
society, or proprietors of any place of burial, wishing 
to become incorporated, may, in like manner, by the 
election of trustees, and the execution by them of a 
similar memorandum, proved, registered, and filed, 
as aforesaid, be created a body corporate for the 
period specified not exceeding fifty years. 

1472. Corporations created under this article may 
hold real and personal property not exceeding in 
value fifty thousand dollars ; may receive property 
by gift, will, or devise, holding the same for the pur- 
poses of their incorporation, with all the lawful con- 
ditions imposed by the donor; and may exercise such 
powers as are incident to private corporations. 

1508. Any religious denomination or society, 
whether incorporated or not, may take by deed or 



244 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

otherwise, and hold, not exceeding five acres of land 
at one place for purposes of public worship. 

1509. All lands bought, or otherwise acquired by 
any religious denomination or society, shall be vested 
in a board of trustees or other persons designated by 
the members of such denomination or society for the 
use and benefit thereof. 

15 10. Any person who obstructs the way to or 
from a place of public worship, or to the spring or 
wells used thereat, so as to prevent access, forfeits 
twenty dollars, one half to the use of the county, the 
other half to the person suing therefor. 

15 1 1. All justices of the peace, sheriffs, coroners, 
and constables, are required to arrest immediately 
any person, in their knowledge or observation, dis- 
turbing a congregation assembled for public worship, 
or violating any rule or regulation adopted by such 
denomination for their own government, or the pres- 
ervation of good order. Such person shall be fined 
by the justice before whom brought not exceeding 
five dollars, or be bound over for his appearance at 
court, to be proceeded against as a rioter for the 
offense. 



Chapter XXXII.— Texas. 

Paschal's Laws of Texas, 1873.— Title, Churches. 

Who may Incorporate — Meetings — How Called — Vacancies — Taxa- 
tion Laws of 1874 — Criminal Code. 

Sec. I. That from and after the passage of this 
act, it shall be lawful for any denomination of Chris- 
tians, or the citizens of any neighborhood in this 



Texas, 245 

republic, to appoint a board or boards of trustees 
for meeting-houses, camp grounds, parsonages, and 
school-houses. 

Sec. 2. That each denomination shall be allowed 
to adopt its own method of appointing trustees, and 
that when the citizens of any neighborhood shall feel 
disposed to build a school-house, a public meeting of 
the citizens shall be called by giving at least ten days' 
previous notice ; said meeting shall choose a presi- 
dent and secretary for the time being, and when the 
meeting is so organized, they shall proceed to elect 
by a majority of votes, in the manner they may think 
best, a suitable number of trustees, not less than 
three nor more than nine, and a certificate of their 
election shall be made out and signed by the presi- 
dent and secretary of the meeting, and shall, within 
sixty days thereafter, be forwarded to the office of 
recorder for the county in which such election shall 
have taken place ; and in case an appointment of 
trustees shall be made by any church or denomina- 
tion of Christians, a like certificate of their appoint- 
ment shall be made out and signed by the proper 
officer or officers of the church or denomination 
making the appointment, and be forwarded for rec- 
ord as above specified. 

Sec. 3. That all vacancies in boards of trustees 
shall be filled by each body having jurisdiction in 
the case ; provided^ that when a board of trustees 
shall be dissolved by death, resignation, or otherwise, 
it shall be lawful for the party having jurisdiction in 
the case to appoint a new board of trustees, as pro- 
vided for by the first section of this act. 



246 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

Sec. 4. That when a board of trustees shall be so 
constituted, they shall be considered in law and 
equity a body politic and corporate, capable of mak- 
ing contracts, of suing and being sued, of pleading 
and being impleaded, of receiving and holding (in 
trust) lands and other property for the purpose of 
building meeting-houses, camp grounds, parsonages, 
or school-houses, as the case may be, for the use and 
benefit of the church or people appointing them ; 
and in all cases said trustees shall be accountable to 
the power appointing them for the faithful perform- 
ance of their duty ; and it shall be lawful for those 
having jurisdiction to remove them from office at any 
time for delinquent conduct. 

Sec 5. That all lands (not exceeding ten acres in 
each case) held by such trustees for any one or all 
the purposes above named, together with the build- 
ings, improvements, and furniture belonging to the 
same, shall be held free from taxation until the Legis- 
lature shall otherwise direct. 

Sec. 6. That all lands or other property heretofore 
conveyed to any church or denomination of Chris- 
tians, or association of the people for the purposes 
above named, shall enjoy all the benefits of this act ; 
provided^ the amount of lands exempt from taxation 
shall not exceed ten acres in each case. 

Sec 7. That it shall be the duty of the president 
of the trustees, as contemplated by this act, to give 
in the lands or other property for taxation belonging 
to such trustees, under oath, except such as are 
exempt by this act ; and the right is hereby reserved 
to the Legislature to make such alterations, modifica- 



Texas. 247 

tions, or restrictions of this act as may seem to it to 
comport with the public interest. 

Paschars Laws of Texas, 1S74. 

Sec. I. Any reHgious society, miHtary or fire com- 
pany, Hterary, social, charitable, or benevolent asso- 
ciation, other than colleges, universities, academies, 
or seminaries, or any grand or subordinate lodge of, 
or other order of Free and Accepted Masons, or of 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, may, by the 
consent of a majority of its members, become bodies 
corporate under this act, by filing the charter re- 
quired by this act, electing directors or trustees, and 
performing the things as are directed in the case of 
other corporations ; and when so organized shall 
have all the powers and privileges, and be subject to 
all the restrictions in this act contained for the ob- 
jects named in the charter, and shall have the same 
power to make by-laws for the regulation of their 
affairs as other corporations. Such directors or trust- 
ees shall not usurp or exercise the functions of the 
ofificers in charge of the spiritual affairs of any 
society. 

Sec. 2. No religious, literary, social, scientific, in- 
dustrial, benevolent, or other society, association, 
company, corporation, or institution that does not 
have a capital stock, will be required in its charter to 
make any statement of the amount of capital stock 
or amount of each share ; but such charter, if it con- 
tains the other statements therein required, and also 
an estimate of the value of the goods, chattels, lands, 
rights, and credits, owned by the corporation, will be 
sufficient. 



248 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

Criminal Code, Title 9. 

Art. 1904. Any person who, by loud or vociferous 
talking or swearing, or by any other noise, willfully 
disturbs any congregation assembled for religious 
worship, and conducting themselves in a lawful man- 
ner, whatever may be the religion professed by such 
congregation, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and 
upon conviction thereof shall be deemed guilty of a 
misdemeanor, and shall be fined in any sum not less 
than twenty-five nor more than one hundred dol- 
lars, and may be imprisoned in the county jail not 
exceeding thirty days, at the discretion of the jury. 

Art. 1905. If complaint be made to any magis- 
trate that a person has committed the offense men- 
tioned in the preceding article, he may be, at the dis- 
cretion of the magistrate, bound over to keep the 
peace, and to refrain from any like disturbance for a 
term of one year. 

Art. 1906. Double the fine prescribed in article 
1904 shall be imposed for any subsequent offense 
of the same kind. 



Vermont. 249 



Chapter XXXI I I.— Vermont. 

General Statutes— Edition of 1870. Chapter 90. 

Associations Authorized — May Adopt Corporate Name and By- 
Law — Powers — Stewards may hold Land in Trust — Disturbance of 
Camp-meeting, etc. 

Sec. I. Any number of persons may associate to- 
gether and have all the powers of a corporation for 
either of the following purposes : — 

First, For the support of the Gospel, and the 
maintenance of public worship. 

Second. To procure, hold, and keep in repair a 
house of public worship. 

Third, To procure, hold, and keep in repair a par- 
sonage, the use and avails of which shall be appro- 
priate to the support of public worship. 

Fourth. To provide, hold, and keep in repair suit- 
able grounds and other conveniences for burying 
the dead ; and any one association may embrace one 
or more, or all the four objects above mentioned in 
this section. . . . 

Tenth. For the purpose of raising, receiving, hold- 
ing, and appropriating funds to assist indigent church- 
es in employing and sustaining preachers of the 
Gospel 

Eleventh. To aid indigent widows and orphans of 
deceased ministers of the Gospel. 

Twelfth. For the purpose of establishing and sus- 
taining libraries for Sabbath-schools, district schools, 
and for the use of pastors and ministers of the Gos- 
pel, and for any purpose of intellectual or moral im- 
provement. 



250 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

Sec. 2. Such associations shall be formed by writ- 
ten articles subscribed by the members, and specify- 
ing the object of the associations, and the conditions 
on which they are formed. 

Sec. 3. The first meeting shall be notified, or- 
ganized, and held, in the manner prescribed in the 
articles of association. 

Sec 4. Any such association may adopt a corpo- 
rate name, either in the original articles, or by vote 
at the first meeting ; and may, at any regular meet- 
ing, adopt a corporate seal, and alter the same at 
pleasure. 

Sec 5. Any such corporation when organized may 
adopt all such by-laws and regulations as may be 
thought expedient. 

Sec 6. Such corporations, when organized, shall 
be capable to sue and be sued, to appear, prosecute, 
and defend to final judgment and execution, in any 
court of law or equity or elsewhere, and may purchase 
and hold all the real and personal estate which shall 
be necessary to promote the association, and which 
shall be exclusively devoted to that object. 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

Sec I. The stewards of the several circuits and 
stations of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and their 
successors in that office, are empowered to hold in 
trust for such Methodist Episcopal Church all lands 
which have been deeded under any previous law, 
or which may be deeded under the provisions of 
this chapter, on which meeting houses, churches, 
or chapels for religious worship, and parsonage 



Vermont. 251 

houses, have been or may be erected, and such 
other lands appurtenant thereto, as may be necessary 
for the use of such houses of worship, or parsonage 
houses ; but the stewards of any one station or cir- 
cuit shall not be empowered to hold more than two 
acres of land for the use of any one house of wor- 
ship, nor more than fifteen acres for any one par- 
sonage. 

Sec. 2. Such stewards, and their successors in 
office, may convey, by deed or otherwise, any real 
estate which they are authorized by the preceding 
section to hold ; provided they shall, previous thereto, 
obtain the approbation by vote of two thirds of the 
members of some Quarterly Meeting Conference in 
the circuit or station where such estate is situated. 

Sec. 3. Such stewards, and their successors in 
office, are hereby authorized to erect within their re- 
spective circuits, upon grounds used and occupied 
for the purposes of camp-meetings, under the usages 
of said church, boarding tents for the accommodation 
of such persons as may attend such meetings, and 
furnish therein board and lodging during the holding 
of said meetings. 

PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
Act passed November 19, 1S68. 

Sec. I. The wardens and vestry-men of any parish 
of the Protestant Episcopal Church in this State, 
duly elected according to the canons and usages of 
said church, and their successors in office, are hereby 
endowed with corporate powers with perpetuity, and 
empowered to take and hold by gift or purchase, or 



252 Laws Relating to Religious Corpoi^ations, 

otherwise, any real estate or personal property, to 
provide for or to support religious worship, or for 
church sites, or buildings, or parsonages. 

Sec. 2. Such wardens and vestry-men, by unani- 
mous consent, and when empowered so to do by a 
majority vote, at the annual meeting of the parish, or 
one called for that purpose, are authorized to sell and 
convey any real or personal estate which now be- , 
belongs to any parish, or may be hereafter acquired ; 
and may by vote, duly recorded, authorize one of 
their number to convey such property. 

Sec. 3. This act shall take effect from its 
passage. 

ESTATE FOR RELIGIOUS PURPOSES. 

Sec I. No grant, conveyance, devise, or lease of 
personal or real estate to,, nor any trust of, such per- 
sonal or real estate for the benefit of any person and 
his successor or successors in any ecclesiastical office, 
shall vest any estate or interest in such person or his 
successor ; and no grant, conveyance, devise, or lease 
to or for any such person by the designation of any 
such office, shall vest any estate or interest in any 
successor of such person. But this section shall not 
be deemed to admit the validity of any such grant, 
conveyance, devise, or lease heretofore made. 

Sec 2. No future grant, conveyance, devise, or 
lease of any real estate consecrated, dedicated, or 
appropriated, or intended to be consecrated, dedi- 
cated, or appropriated to tlie purpose of religious 
worship, for the use of any congregation or society, 
shall vest any right, title, or interest in any person 



Vermont. 253 

or persons to whom such grant, conveyance, devise, 
or lease may be made, unless the same shall be 
made to a corporation organized for the support of 
the Gospel and the maintenance of public worship, 
or to procure, hold, and keep in repair, a house of 
public w^orship, according to the provisions of the 
first section of chapter ninety of the general statutes. 
But nothing herein contained shall prevent any such 
corporation from conveying such property on a bona- 
fide sale thereof, under the direction of a court of 
competent jurisdiction to confer such authority ac- 
cording to the laws of this State. 

Sec. 3. Any real estate of the description named 
in section second of this chapter, and which has been 
heretofore granted, devised, or demised to any person 
or persons in any ecclesiastical office or orders by 
the designation of such office or orders, or otherwise, 
shall be deemed to be held in trust for the benefit of 
the congregation or the society using the same, and 
shall, unless previously conveyed to a corporation, as 
provided in the last preceding section, upon the death 
of the person or persons to whom the legal title shall 
be vested at the time of the passage of this chapter, 
vest in the religious corporation formed by the con- 
gregation or religious society occupying and enjoying 
such real estate as aforesaid ; provided, such a cor- 
poration, organized according to the laws of this 
State, shall be in existence at the time of the de- 
cease of the person or persons holding the title 
thereto. 

Sec. 4. In the event such congregation or society 

shall not be incorporated as aforesaid, then and in 
18 



254 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

that case the title of such real estate shall vest in the 
people of the State of Vermont. 

Sec. 5. Whenever title to any real estate shall vest 
in the people of the State of Vermont under and by 
virtue of the last preceding section, it shall be under 
the charge of the governor of this State ; and it shall 
be his duty, and he is hereby authorized, upon his 
being satisfied that the congregation or society which 
had used, occupied, or enjoyed such real estate for 
purposes of religious worship, prior to the death of 
the person or persons on whose decease the title 
thereto vested in this State, has duly become a cor- 
poration, under and according to the provisions of 
chapter ninety of the general statutes aforesaid, and 
upon the production to him of a true copy of the 
articles of association and by-laws, if any there be, of 
said corporation, certified and sworn to by the presid- 
ing and recording officer of said corporation, to grant 
and convey such real estate, and all the rights, title, 
and interest of the people of the State of Vermont 
therein and thereto to said corporation, which shall 
thereupon be vested with all the rights, title, and 
interest therein, and thereto, which became vested in 
the State by virtue of the provisions of the fourth 
section of this chapter. 

Sec. 6. This chapter shall not be construed as re- 
pealing, or in any way affecting, sections thirteen and 
fourteen of chapter ninety of the general statutes 
aforesaid. 



Vermont. 255 

Chapter 93. 
DISTURBANCE OF RELIGIOUS MEETINGS. 

vSec. 5. If any person on the first day of the week, 
or on any other day or time, shall willfully disturb 
or interrupt any assembly of people met together 
for religious worship, or religious instruction, by 
noisy, rude, or indecent behavior, or by profane dis- 
course, either within or about the place where such 
assembly shall be collected for religious worship or 
instruction, so near as to disturb the order and so- 
lemnity of such assembly, he shall be punished by a 
fine not exceeding forty dollars, nor less than five 
dollars, to the use of the town in which said meetings 
shall be held. 

Sec. 6. Every justice, sheriff, and deputy sheriff of 
the county, and every constable and grand juror in 
the town in which any such meeting is held, being 
present, may, without warrant, upon view, arrest any 
person so making disturbance as aforesaid, and de- 
tain such person in custody during the time of such 
meeting, or until a trial of such offense shall be had ; 
and all such justices, sheriffs, and deputy sheriffs, 
constables, and grand jurors, shall have the same 
power to command assistance in the execution of 
the aforesaid duties as sheriffs by law have ; and all 
persons being so commanded, who shall refuse to 
obey such command, shall be subject to the same 
penalties as persons who refuse to assist sheriffs in 
the discharge of their office and duty. 

Sec. 7. If any person shall, within two miles of 
any place where any camp-meeting is held for relig- 
ious worship, and during the continuance of such 



256 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

meeting, sell, or offer for sale, any kind of spirits or 
spirituous liquors, or exhibit any shows or plays, or 
shall promote or aid any horse-racing, or gaming of 
any description, or shall, during the continuance of 
such meeting, sell, or offer for sale, any victuals, 
drink, or merchandise, within two miles of the place 
of holding such meeting, he shall be punished by a 
fine not exceeding forty dollars, nor less than fivQ 
dollars, to the use of the town in which such meet- 
ing is held ; provided, however, that nothing in this 
section shall be construed to prevent licensed retail- 
ers, inn-keepers, or any other person, from pursuing 
their ordinary business at their usual place of doing 
business, nor to prevent any person from selling vict- 
uals in his own house. 

Sec. 8. It shall be the duty of grand jurors and 
constables, in their respective towns, to make due 
presentment of all offenses against the provisions of 
this chapter. 

Sec. 9. All prosecutions for the breach of any of 
the provisions of this chapter shall be commenced 
within thirty days after the commission of the offense, 
and not after. 



Virginia and' West Virginia. 257 



Chapter XXXIV.— Virginia and West Virginia.* 

Code of West Vii-ginia, 1S6S.— Chapter 57. 

Conveyances to be Legalized — Trustees Appointed by Circuit Court 
— Limit to Land Held — Real Estate may be Sold. 

Sec. I. Every conveyance, devise, or dedication 
which has been made since the first day of January, 
1777, and every conveyance which shall hereafter be 
made, of land for the use or benefit of any religious 
congregation as a place of worship, or as a burial- 
place, or a residence for a minister, shall be valid ; 
and the land shall be held for such use or benefit, 
and for such purpose, and not otherwise. 

Sec. 2. The Circuit Court of the county wherein 
such land, or the greater part thereof, may lie, may, 
on application of the proper authorities of such con- 
gregation, from time to time, appoint trustees either 
when there were, or are, none, or in place of former 
trustees, and change those so appointed whenever it 
may appear to the court proper to effect or promote 
the purpose of the conveyance, devise, or dedication ; 
and the legal title to such land shall, for that purpose, 
be vested in the said trustees for the time being, and 
their successors. 

Sec 3. When books or furniture shall be given or 
acquired for the benefit of such congregation, to be 
used on the said land in the ceremonies of public 
worship, or at the residence of their minister, the 
same shall stand vested in the trustees having the 

* The laws of these States are identical. 



258 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

legal title to the land, to be held by them as the land 
is held, for the benefit of the congregation. 

Sec. 4. The said trustees may, in their own names, 
sue for and recover such land and property, and be 
sued in relation thereto. Such suit, notwithstanding 
the death of any of the said trustees, or appointment 
of others, shall proceed in the name of the trustees 
by or against whom it was instituted. 

Sec. 5. Such trustees shall not take or hold at any 
one time more than two acres of land in an incorpo- 
rated town, nor more than thirty acres out of such 
town. 

Sec 6. Whenever any religious congregation, be- 
nevolent or literary association, for whose use a con- 
veyance, devise, or dedication of land has been law- 
fully made, shall deem their interest will be pro- 
moted by a sale of such land, it shall be lawful for 
any member of such congregation, benevolent or 
literary association, in his name, and on behalf of the 
other members thereof, to prosecute a suit in equity 
for that purpose in the Circuit Court of the county 
in which such land, or the greater part, may be, 
against the trustees, or the successors of them in 
whom the legal title may be ; and it shall be lawful 
for such court, if a proper case be made, and the 
court be of opinion that the rights of others will not 
be violated thereby, to order a sale of such land, and 
make such disposition of the proceeds thereof as the 
congregation or benevolent or literary association 
may devise. The trustees of any rehgious congrega- 
tion, or benevolent or literary association, may bor- 
row money for the use of such congregation or asso- 



Virginia and West Virginia. 259 

ciation, and execute a lien upon any property owned 
by them to secure the payment thereof. 

Chapter 149. 
DISTURBANCE OF RELIGIOUS WORSHIP. 

Sec. 1 8. If a person willfully interrupt or disturb 
any assembly met for the worship of God, he shall 
be confined in jail not more than six months, and 
fined not exceeding one hundred dollars ; and a jus- 
tice may put him under restraint during religious 
worship, and bind him, for not more than one year, 
to be of good behavior. 

Sec 19. If any person shall erect, or have any 
booth, stall, tent, carriage, boat, vehicle, or other 
contrivance whatever, for the purpose of selling, giv- 
ing, or otherwise disposing of any spirituous or fer- 
mented liquors, or any other articles of traffic therein, 
or shall sell, give, barter, or otherwise dispose of any 
spirituous or fermented liquors, or any other article 
of traflfic, within two miles of any camp-meeting, or 
other place of religious worship, during the time of 
holding any such meeting at such place, such per- 
son, on conviction before a justice, for the first of- 
fense shall be fined not exceeding ten dollars, and 
for the second offense shall be fined as aforesaid, and 
be imprisoned not more than ten days. 



26o Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 



Chapter X XX V— Wisconsin. 

Taylor's Kevised Statutes, 1872.— Chapter 66. 

Trustees, how Elected — Notification of Elections — Who Preside 
at Elections — Powers of Trustees — Classification — Qualification of 
Voters — Proceedings for Sale of Real Estate — Churches may be 
Re-incorporated if Dissolved — Offenses. 

Sec. I. It shall be lawful for all persons of full age 
belonging to any church, congregation, or religious 
society not already incorporated, to assemble at the 
church or meeting-house, or other place where they 
statedly attend for divine worship, and by a majority 
of votes elect any number of discreet persons of the 
church, congregation, or rehgious society, not less 
than three nor more than nine in number, as trust- 
ees (a majority of whom shall in all cases be actual ^ 
communicants of such church, congregation, or re- 
ligious society) to take charge of the estate and prop- 
erty belonging thereto, and to transact all affairs rela- 
tive to the temporalities thereof. 

Sec. 2. It shall be lawful for any church, congre- 
gation, or religious society to choose their minister 
to be the president of the said corporation, and of 
their meetings, by a vote as aforesaid ; and at the 
election provided for in this chapter every person of 
full age who has statedly worshiped with said church, 
congregation, or society, and has been formerly con- 
sidered as belonging thereto, shall be entitled to a 
vote. 

Sec. 3. The minister of such congregation or so- 
ciety, or, in case of his death or absence, one of the 



Wisconsin, 261 

elders or deacons, church-wardens, or vestry-men 
thereof, and for want of such officers, any other per- 
son, being a member or stated hearer in such church, 
congregation, or society, shall publicly notify the con- 
gregation of the time when, and the place where, the 
said election shall be held, at least fifteen days before 
the election, and such notification shall be given for 
two successive Sabbaths, on which such church, con- 
gregation, or society shall statedly meet for public 
worship preceding the election. 

Sec. 4. Any two of the elders, deacons, church- 
wardens, or vestry-men of such church, congregation, 
or society, or if such officer be not present, then any 
two voters present, to be nominated by a majority of 
the voters, shall preside at such election, receive the 
votes, and determine the qualifications of voters, and 
they shall immediately after the election certify, under 
their hands and seals, the names of the persons elected 
to serve as trustees, in which certificate the name by 
which the said trustees and their successors in office 
shall forever thereafter be called and known, shall be 
particularly mentioned and specified. 

Sec. 5. Such certificate shall be acknowledged by 
the persons making the same, or proved by a sub- 
scribing witness thereto, before some officer author- 
ized to take the acknowledgment of deeds, and re- 
corded together with the certificate of such acknowl- 
edgment or proof, by the register of deeds of the 
county within which the church or place of worship 
of such congregation shall be situated, in a book to 
be provided by him for that purpose, who shall be 
entitled to receive seventy-five cents for such record- 



262 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

ing, and thereafter such trustees and their successors 
shall be a body corporate, by the name expressed in 
such certificate. 

Sec. 6. The several clerks of the boards of super- 
visors in this State not yet supplied with suitable 
books for recording the certificates aforesaid, shall 
immediately procure such books at the expense of 
the respective counties. 

Sec. 7. Such trustees may have a common seal, 
and may alter the same at pleasure : and they may 
take into their possession and custody all the tem- 
poralities of such church, congregation, or society, 
whether the same shall consist of real or personal 
estate, and whether the same may have been given, 
granted, or devised directly or indirectly to such 
church, congregation, or religious society, or to any 
other person or persons for their use. 

Sec 8. Such trustees may also, in their corporate 
name, sue and be sued in all courts and places, and 
they may recover and hold all debts, demands, rights, 
and privileges, all churches, buildings, burial-places, 
and all the estate and appurtenances belonging to 
such church, congregation, or society, in whatsoever 
manner the same may have been acquired, or in 
whose hands soever the same may be held, as fully 
and amply as if the right and title thereto had been 
originally vested in the said trustees ; and they may 
hold other real or personal estate, and demise, lease, 
and improve the same, but the whole of such estate, 
real and personal, shall not exceed the yearly value 
or income of three thousand dollars. 

Sec. 9. The said trustees shall have authority to 



Wisconsin, 263 

alter and repair their churches and meeting-houses, 
and, under the direction of the society or congrega- 
tion, to erect churches and meeting-houses, and 
dwelHng-houses for their ministers, and other build- 
ings for the use of their church, congregation, or 
society. 

Sec. 10. They shall also have authority to make 
rules and orders for managing the temporal affairs of 
such church, congregation, or society, and to dispose 
of all moneys belonging thereto, and to order and 
regulate the renting of pews or slips in their churches 
and meeting-houses, and the perquisites for the break- 
ing of the ground in the cemetery or church-yard, 
and in the said churches and meeting-houses, for 
burying the dead. 

Sec. II. They may appoint a clerk and treasurer 
of their board, and a collector to collect and receive 
their rents and revenues, and may regulate the fees 
to be allowed to such clerk, treasurer, and collector, 
and may remove them and appoint others in their 
stead at pleasure ; and such clerk shall enter all rules 
and orders made by such trustees, and payments or- 
dered by them, in a book to be procured by them for 
that purpose. 

Sec. 12. Any two of the trustees may at any time 
call a meeting of the trustees, and a majority of them, 
being lawfully convened, shall be competent to do 
and perform all matters and things which such trust- 
ees are authorized to do and perform. 

Sec. 13. The said trustees shall hold their offices 
for three years, and until their successors are elected ; 
and immediately after their first election, as hereto- 



264 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations, 

fore provided, the said trustees shall be divided by 
lot into three classes, numbered one, two, and three, 
and the seats of the first class shall be vacated at the 
end of the first year, of the second class at the end of 
the second year, and the seats of the third class at 
the end of the third year, to the end that, as near as 
may be, one third part of the whole num.ber may be 
annually chosen. 

Sec. 14. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the 
said trustees, at least one month before the expiration 
of the office of any of the said trustees, to notify the 
same in writing to the minister, or in case of his death 
or absence, to the elders or church-wardens, and if 
there be no elders or church-wardens, then the dea- 
cons or vestry-men of any such church, congregation, 
or society, specifying in such notice the names of the 
trustees whose office will expire ; and the minister, 
or other officers receiving such notice, shall, in man- 
ner aforesaid, notify the members of such church, con- 
gregation, or society of such vacancies, and appoint 
the time and place for the election to supply the 
same ; provided^ if the clerk shall fail for any cause 
to give notice as hereinbefore required, or the elec- 
tion shall not be held at the time as hereinbefore re- 
quired, the chuich, congregation, or society shall not 
for that reason be dissolved, or in the least affected 
thereby ; but the notice and election may be held on 
some other day. 

Sec. 15. All subsequent elections shall be held 
and conducted by the same persons, and in the same 
manner, as hereinbefore provided for the first elec- 
tion ; and in case any vacancy shall happen by the 



Wisconsin, 265 

death of a trustee, his neglect or refusal to act with 
the board of trustees for the space of two months or 
more, or removal from said society before his term 
of office expires, or otherwise, notice thereof shall be 
given as aforesaid, and an election shall be held, and 
another trustee chosen in his stead for the remainder 
of the term. 

Sec. 16. No person belonging to any such church, 
congregation, or society, incorporated under the pro- 
visions of this chapter, shall be entitled to vote at any 
election after the first until he shall have been an at- 
tendant on public worship in such church, congrega- 
tion, or society at least six months before such elec- 
tion, and shall have contributed to the support of 
such church, congregation, or society according to 
the usages and customs thereof. 

Sec 17. The clerk of the trustees shall keep a reg- 
ister of the names of all such persons as shall desire to 
become stated hearers in the said church, congrega- 
tion, or society, and shall therein vote the time when 
such request was made ; and the said clerk shall 
attend all subsequent elections, in order to test the 
qualifications of such voters in case they shall be 
questioned. 

Sec. 18. Nothing in this chapter contained shall 
be construed to give to such trustees the power to 
fix or ascertain the salary or compensation paid to 
any minister ; but the same shall be ascertained and 
fixed by a majority of such society entitled to vote 
at the election of trustees. 

Sec. ig. It shall be lawful for the Circuit Court for 
the county in which any such religious corporation 



266 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

shall have been constituted, or in vacation, for the 
judge of the judicial circuit in which said county is 
situated, on the application of such corporation, if 
said court or said judge in vacation shall deem it 
proper, to make an order for the sale or mortgage of 
any real estate belonging to such corporation, and to 
direct the application of the moneys arising therefrom 
to such uses as the said corporation, with the appro- 
bation of said court, or in vacation of said judge, 
shall conceive to be for the interest of such corpo- 
ration. And when such order shall be granted by 
said judge in vacation, it shall be filed with the clerk 
of said court, and entered of record in the same man- 
ner as if it had been granted by the court. 

Sec. 20. At least ten days' previous notice of any 
such application to the Circuit Court, or in vacation 
to the judge of said judicial court, shall be given, by 
publishing the same in some newspaper published in 
the county, if one be published therein, and if not, 
by posting up notices in three or more public places 
in such county. 

Sec 21. The provisions of sections nineteen and 
twenty of this chapter shall be applicable to all re- 
ligious societies and corporations in this State, 
whether constituted under the provisions of this 
chapter or otherwise. 

Sec. 22. Every church, congregation, or religious 
society, heretofore incorporated in pursuance of law 
and not since dissolved, shall be and is hereby es- 
tablished and confirmed ; and in case of the dissolu- 
tion of any such corporation, or of any corporation 
hereafter to be formed in pursuance of the provision i 



Wisconsin. 267 

of this chapter, for any cause whatever, the same 
may be incorporated under the provisions of this 
chapter at any time within six years after such disso- 
lution ; and thereupon all the estate, real and personal, 
formerly belonging to the same, and not lawfully dis- 
posed of, shall vest in such corporation, as if there 
had been no such dissolution. 

Sec. 23. All lands, tenements, and hereditaments 
that have been or may hereafter be lawfully conveyed 
by demise, gift, grant, purchase, or otherwise to any 
persons as trustees, in trust, for the use of any religious 
society organized, or which may hereafter be organized, 
within this State, either for a meeting-house, burying- 
ground, or for the residence of a preacher, shall de- 
scend, with the improvements, in perpetual succession 
to and shall be held by such trustees in trust for such 
society. 

Sec. 24. Whenever, by the constitution, rules, or 
usages of any particular church or religious denomi- 
nation, trustees are required to be appointed by any 
minister, presiding elder, or other officer or officers 
of such church or denomination, it shall be the duty 
of such minister, presiding elder, or other officer or 
officers, to give to such trustees a certificate of their 
appointment under the hand and seal of the person 
making the same, specifying the name by which such 
trustees and their successors shall forever thereafter 
be called and known, which certificate shall be ac- 
knowledged or proved and recorded, as hereinbefore 
directed ; whereupon such trustees, and their succes- 
sors appointed in the same manner, shall be a body 
corporate by the name expressed in such certificate, 



268 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

with all the rights, powers, and privileges of other 
religious corporations constituted according to the 
provisions of this chapter. 

Sec. 25. Whenever, by the constitution, rules, and 
usages of a particular church or religious denomina- 
tion, the minister or ministers, elders and deacons, 
or other officers elected by any church or congrega- 
tion, according to such constitution, rules, or usages, 
are thereby constituted the trustees of such church 
or congregation, it shall be lawful for such minister 
or ministers, elders and deacons, or other officers, to 
assemble together and execute, under their hands 
and seals, a certificate, stating the name by which 
they and their successors in office shall forever there- 
after be called and known, which certificate shall be 
acknowledged or proved, and recorded, as herein be- 
fore directed ; whereupon such persons and their 
successors in office shall be a body corporate, by the 
name expressed in such certificate, v/ith all the 
rights, powers, and privileges of other religious cor- 
porations, constituted according to the provisions of 
this chapter 

Sec. 26. Every church, parsonage, and school- 
house belonging to any religious society, with the 
land belonging thereto, not to exceed in all three 
acres in any one town, village, or township, or if in a 
city, not to exceed one lot for each of the said build- 
ings, shall not be subject to taxation for any purpose 
except for its own improvement. 

Sec. 27. The rector, wardens, and vestry-men, be- 
ing the trustees of each Protestant Episcopal Church 
incorporated within this State, may be chosen at 



Wisconsin. 269 

such times, and in such manner, as may be in con- 
formity to the rules and usages of such church, and 
elections or appointments of such officers heretofore 
made in conformity to such rules and usages are de- 
clared to be valid. 

Sec. 28. Each Protestant Episcopal Church here- 
tofore or hereafter incorporated within this State 
may take, by purchase, devise, gift, or otherwise, and 
may forever hold, any lands intended to be used for 
cemetery grounds or burial purposes ; and all grants, 
gifts, conveyances, or devises of lands heretofore made 
to any incorporated Protestant Episcopal Church 
shall be valid and effectual, according to the intent 
of the parties. 

Sec. 29. Sections 14, 15, and 16, of chapter sixty- 
seven of the Revised Statutes, shall apply to lands 
so heretofore or hereafter acquired or held for burial 
purposes. 

Sec 30. All bonds and files relating to any incor- 
poration, now in the office of the clerks of the several 
boards of supervisors of this State, shall, by said 
clerks, be immediately transmitted to the office of 
the register of deeds of the proper county, to be by 
said register preserved in a convenient form for the 
inspection of any and all persons interested. 

Sec. 31. Any five or more male persons of lawful 
age, not members of any religious congregation, de- 
sirous of forming a society for the promotion of the 
Christian religion in connection with a church to be 
associated therewith, according to their own peculiar 
tenets, may become incorporated, and possess, have, 

hold, and enjoy all the rights, privileges, and fran- 
19 



2/0 Laws Relating to Religious Corporations. 

chises incident to such corporations as hereinafter 
provided. 

Sec. 32. Such persons shall execute, under their 
hands and seals, a certificate substantially in the fol- 
lowing form : — 

'' Know all men by these presents, that we (insert 
the names) whose names are hereunto subscribed, 
have agreed, and by these presents do agree, to be; 
come incorporated into a religious society, in pursu- 
ance of the laws of this State, by the name and style 
of the (here insert the corporate name) of the (here 
insert the name of the city, village, or town,) and we 
do hereby agree, that all persons who may hereafter 
become associated with us in this organization shall 
be entitled to equal privileges and rights in the grants 
and franchises hereby secured under and by virtue 
of the statutes in such cases made and provided. In 
witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands and 
seals this day of A. D. r A—, B— . 

Sec. 33. The certificate thus executed shall be ac- 
knowledged before some person authorized to take 
acknowledgments of deeds, and shall be recorded in 
the office of the Secretary of State, and copies there- 
of, duly certified by him, shall be received as evidence 
of the fact of incorporation, and for all other proper 
and lawful purposes, in all courts of law and equity. 
The Secretary of State shall be entitled to receive 
fifty cents for recording each certificate, and the like 
sum for each certified copy thereof. 

Sec 34. That upon the recording of such certifi- 
cate in the office of the Secretary of State, the per- 
sons named therein shall be deemed and regarded in 



Wzsconsi/i, 271 

law as corporators, and they and their associates are 
hereby declared to be a body corporate and politic, 
with perpetual succession, by the name and style 
designated in such certificate, and by such name and 
style shall be competent to contract, and be con- 
tracted with, to sue and be sued, to answer and be 
answered unto, in all courts of law and equity ; and 
shall also be competent in law to purchase, have, 
hold, and enjoy property, both real and personal, 
and to sell, dispose of, and convey the same ; pro- 
vided, however, that it shall not be lawful for such 
corporation to deal in property of any kind, except so 
far as shall be necessary for the legitimate objects of 
the corporation, as declared in this act ; and provided 
further, that the real estate to be held shall not ex- 
ceed five lots in any city or village, or forty acres 
not plotted into lots. 

Sec. 35. That every such corporation thus created 
may have a common seal, and alter and renew the 
same at pleasure, and may also adopt a constitution 
and by-laws for their government not inconsistent 
with the laws of this State or of the United States, 
and may alter or amend the same at pleasure, and 
may also designate the number and title of their oflfi- 
cers, and may also define their powers and duties. 

Sec. 36. A majority of the corporators named in 
such certificate may meet at such time and place as 
to them shall seem fit and proper for the purpose of 
perfecting their organization under the incorporation 
thus secured ; and the said corporators shall consti- 
tute the first board of trustees of the society, and 
shall hold their oflfices until others are chosen. 



2^2 Lazvs Relating to Religious Corporations. 

Sec. 37. This act, and the act to which this is 
amendatory, shall not be deemed to repeal any part 
of chapter sixty-six of the Revised Statutes, but said 
chapter sixty-six is hereby declared in full force, in 
so far as relates to the incorporation of religious 
societies, when the persons becoming incorporators 
are at the time of such incorporation members of a 
religious society or congregation having regular meetT 
ings for divine worship. 

Chapter 183. 
OFFENSES. 

Sec 7. Every person who shall at any time will- 
fully interrupt or molest any assembly of people met 
for the worship of God, or any member thereof, or 
any persons when meeting or met together for the 
performance of any duties enjoined on or appertain- 
ing to them as members of any religious society, or 
wedding party, or other company or assembly of 
peaceable citizens, or for the recitation or perform- 
ance of or instruction in vocal music, within the 
place of such meeting or out of it, shall be punished 
by fine not exceeding twenty dollars nor less than 
five dollars. 

Sec 10. That any person who shall sell any intox- 
icating drinks, or any other articles of traffic, within 
two miles of any camp-meeting, or other religious as- 
sembly, without the written permit of the person or 
persons having the oversight and management of such 
camp-meeting or religious assembly, or who shall 
otherwise willfully interrupt or disturb such meeting 
or assembly, shall be punished by a fine of not more 



Wisconsin, 273 

than fifty dollars nor less than five dollars ; provided, 
that nothing herein contained shall be construed to 
prohibit any such sale at any regularly established 
store, tavern, or other place of business which may 
have been licensed or established previously to such 
meeting, and not with the intent to evade the pro- 
visions of this act. 

Sec. II. Any person who shall violate the pro- 
visions of this act, and who shall be notified by any 
person having charge of such meeting or assembly, or 
by any other person, that he, she, or they are violat- 
ing the law, and who shall, after such notice, continue 
in such violation, he, she, or they shall forfeit and 
pay for every such offense a fine not less than five 
dollars, nor more than fifty dollars, to be collected as 
hereinafter provided, and paid over to the county 
treasurer, where the same, as other fines, are required 
to be paid for the use of schools. 



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